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The popularity of women’s basketball and women’s sports in general has skyrocketed in 2024, and there’s no doubt that Caitlin Clark you can thank for that.
Clark was not only the most popular female athlete in the last 12 monthsTime named her Sportswoman of the Year, a title shared in recent years by global stars such as Lionel Messi, LeBron James, Simone Biles, Serena Williams and Tiger Woods.
Clark began the year at the end of her record-setting college career. As a senior at Iowa, she was suspended for several months in the national championship loss to Angel Reese and the LSU Tigers, where Reese’s “You can’t see me” taunt was the unofficial start of a rivalry both on and off the court (though Clark herself will tell you , that there is no such thing between them).
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Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark speaks to the media during an introductory news conference on April 17, 2024. at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Ron Hoskins/NBAE via Getty Images)
Either way, the gesture sparked a lot of debate that turned into further culture wars this summer with Clarke as a WNBA player. This, however, did not occur to her set an NCAA record (both men’s and women’s) for the most points scored in a college career and in another national championship.
She became the No. 1 overall pick in April, and almost as soon as she stepped onto the WNBA court, talk began about whether her popularity had anything to do with her race. In fact, it was an endorsement by WNBA MVP A’ja Wilson, saying that Clark was white “big thing” when it came to Clark’s popularity.
Throughout the season, however, Clarke was able to shut down the noise made about her off the court, even when it seemed like she was being attacked by opponents. The hard fouls came amid accusations of racism from Indiana and Iowa fans. of the aforesaid Reese.
But Clark has said time and time again that she’s focused on basketball, and it looks like that was the case. Not only did she break rookie records in her rookie season, but even the WNBA records are now bare of Clark’s name.
Indiana Fever guard Kaitlyn Clarke reacts during a WNBA basketball first round playoff game against the Sun on Sept. 25, 2024. in Uncasville, Connecticut. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)
CAITLYN CLARK, WNBA BIG SAYS POOR REACTION TO WHITE PRIVILEGE REMARKS PROVES US HAS ‘RACE PROBLEM’
Clark’s appearance at the games brought in historic attendance at both the collegiate and professional levels. The final three games of her collegiate career were the most watched women’s college basketball games in history. She also tied the game in several regular season games more viewers than WNBA playoff gamesand her WNBA matchups with Reese were some of the most watched WNBA games of all time.
WNBA teams have even had to move to bigger arenas simply because of the demand for tickets that Clark has generated; fever sold 90 times more tickets last year than in 2023.
Clark was named Rookie of the year for her historic campaign in which she set the record for most assists in a single season in league history. She led the Fever into the playoffs after a slow start and quickly became a double-double machine. She even set a single game record with 19 assists. She also became the first rookie to record a triple-double, registering two of them.
Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever celebrates during a game against the Los Angeles Sparks on May 24, 2024 at Crypto.com Arena in California. (Adam Pantozzi/NBAE via Getty Images)
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She received the most All-Star votes and became only the fifth rookie in league history to be named to the WNBA First Team.
It goes without saying that Clarke is on her way to a brilliant career, and it’s even more impressive what she’s done this year despite all the outside noise.
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