It wasn't even close. Honestly, if you spent any time on sports Twitter during the summer of 2024, you probably thought the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year race was a dead heat that would come down to the final buzzer. The debates were loud. They were messy. People were basically picking sides like it was a political election rather than a basketball award.
But when the actual votes were counted? Landslide.
Caitlin Clark didn't just win; she nearly swept the whole thing. She took 66 out of 67 possible votes from the national media panel. One person—just one—voted for Angel Reese. That's a level of dominance we rarely see when the "narrative" is that polarized.
The Numbers That Settled the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year Debate
Stats don't care about your favorite player's TikTok following. While the media was busy fueling the rivalry, Clark was busy rewriting the entire WNBA record book, not just the rookie section.
She averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 5.7 rebounds.
Think about that for a second. She didn't just lead the rookies in assists; she led the entire league. Her 337 total assists set a new WNBA single-season record. Period. Not "rookie record." The all-time, everyone-who-has-ever-played-this-game record.
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Why it felt closer than it was
Angel Reese was genuinely historic. You can't ignore 15 consecutive double-doubles. That's insane. She broke the WNBA record for rebounds per game at 13.1, surpassing a mark held by legend Sylvia Fowles. For about a month in July, people were seriously asking if Reese's rebounding and defensive presence outweighed Clark's playmaking.
But then the Olympic break happened.
When the league came back in August, the Indiana Fever went on a tear. Clark started playing like an MVP candidate, not just a rookie. She was the first rookie to ever record a triple-double. Then she went and did it again.
It Wasn't Just About the Points
We have to talk about the "gravity" Clark brought to the court. Every time she crossed half-court, the entire defense shifted. She was getting trapped and doubled-teamed in ways that usually only happen to 10-year vets.
The Fever, who were a lottery team the year before, suddenly became the hottest ticket in sports. They finished 20-20 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Winning matters. Voters usually look at how a player actually impacts the standings, and Clark turned a struggling franchise into a postseason contender.
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- Single-game assist record: 19 assists against Dallas.
- Three-point volume: 122 made threes (a rookie record).
- Double-doubles: 14 of them, mostly from points and assists.
The turnovers were the only real knock. She had a lot of them. Like, a record-breaking amount. But when you have the ball in your hands as much as she does and you're making high-risk, high-reward passes, the math usually works out in your favor.
The Economics of the Rookie Race
The 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year wasn't just a trophy for a shelf. It was the culmination of a season that literally changed the financial trajectory of the league.
The "Caitlin Clark Effect" is a real thing studied by actual economists now. Fever games averaged 1.1 million viewers. Other games? About 394,000. That is a 199% difference. You can't find another athlete in modern history—maybe Tiger Woods in the late 90s—who skewed the numbers that drastically.
Fans were flying across the country just to see her warm up. The Fever set an all-time attendance record with over 340,000 fans coming through the gates in a single season.
The Angel Reese Factor
Let’s be real: the race needed Angel Reese. She was the perfect foil. While Clark was the long-range assassin, Reese was the gritty, double-double machine from the Chicago Sky. Their rivalry dated back to the 2023 NCAA Championship, and it carried the league's marketing on its back all summer.
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Unfortunately, Reese’s season ended early because of a wrist injury in September. That basically put the final nail in the ROTY debate. Without those last six games to pad her rebounding stats and help the Sky into the playoffs, the momentum completely shifted to Indiana.
What Happens Next for the 2024 Class?
If you think this was a one-hit wonder season, you're trippin'. The 2024 class was deep. It wasn't just the "Big Two."
Rickea Jackson turned into an absolute bucket for the Los Angeles Sparks. Kamilla Cardoso showed flashes of being a dominant rim protector in Chicago. Leonie Fiebich, though an "older" rookie, was a massive reason why the New York Liberty stayed at the top of the standings.
But the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year award will always be defined by the girl from Iowa who proved that the hype was actually understated.
Actionable Takeaways for WNBA Fans
If you want to track how this class evolves into their sophomore seasons, here is what you should keep an eye on:
- Watch the Assist-to-Turnover Ratio: Clark's next big jump will be cutting down the 5.6 turnovers per game. If she drops that to 3 or 4, the Fever are a top-3 team.
- Monitor the Off-Season Training: Most of these rookies didn't have a break. They went straight from the NCAA tournament to the WNBA draft to the season. A full off-season of pro-level conditioning is going to make the 2025 versions of Jackson and Reese scary.
- Check the Expansion Draft Impact: With the Golden State Valkyries joining the league, some of these young stars might find themselves in different roles. The roster protection lists will be a drama of their own.
The 2024 season was a "before and after" moment for women's basketball. We aren't going back to the old way of doing things. The bar has been set, and it's currently sitting at about 30 feet away from the hoop in Indianapolis.