Caitlin Clark is the 2024 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year. The league announced the award for the Indiana Fever guard on Thursday.

But Clark was not the unanimous Rookie of the Year in the WNBA. She received 66 of 67 total first-place votes from a panel of local and national media members. Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese received 1 vote.

While Clark would not have been the first unanimous Rookie of the Year in the WNBA’s history, many felt she deserved the distinction after authoring one of the best rookie seasons the WNBA has ever seen.

Clark set the WNBA’s single-season record with 337 assists. Her league-leading average of 8.4 assists per game ranked as the fifth-best average in WNBA history. She set the single-game assist record. She recorded the most points in a season by a rookie in WNBA history. She led the league in 3-pointers made, finishing 6 makes shy of the single-season WNBA record. And she became the first rookie in league history to have multiple triple-doubles in a season.

Clark’s per-game averages of 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, 1.3 steals, and 35.4 minutes a night led all rookies. She also ranked third among rookies in rebounds per game with 5.7.

She earned an Eastern Conference Player of the Month award in August, 3 consecutive Eastern Conference Player of the Week awards, and 4 total Rookie of the Month honors. She was also a starter in the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game.

The Fever made the WNBA Playoffs as a 6-seed after a 20-20 regular season. It was the franchise’s first 20-win season since 2015, and it came on the heels of a 3-year stretch that produced 24 total wins. The Sky missed the Playoffs with a 13-27 mark.

ESPN made waves in July when Monica McNutt said Reese would get her vote for Rookie of the Year because, she said at the time, “My Rookie of the Year is going to go based on the standings.” At the time, Clark was the overwhelming favorite to win the award, with -550 odds at ESPN Bet while Reese was priced at +350.

Chicago was 7-11 at that point. Indiana was 8-13. From July 5 through the end of the regular season, the Fever went 12-7 while the Sky finished 6-16. Reese’s season ended prematurely in early September because of a wrist injury. Chicago went 1-5 without her and fired its coach at the end of the season.

Reese set single-season WNBA records for rebounds, offensive rebounds, and consecutive double-doubles. But she was often criticized for securing double-doubles late in losing efforts when other starters had been pulled and for rebounding her own misses. Reese finished the season shooting 39.1% from the field despite 77% of her attempts coming within 5 feet of the basket. She made just 44.5% of those looks.

Clark received 6 third-place votes in the WNBA’s MVP voting, and 130 total points to finish a distant fourth. Reese received 1 fourth-place vote.

Fans on social media had plenty of reaction to the news that 1 vote was all that stood between Clark and unanimous status. But there was also plenty of support for Reese, with fans arguing she deserved to garner more votes than the 1 she got.

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