Caitlin Clark is on the top of the athlete world — as she has been for the past year. So, it only makes sense she was named TIME’s Athlete of the Year Tuesday morning.
Clark, between her time at Iowa and on the Indiana Fever in 2024, captivated the sports world with her flashy 3-pointers and shifty plays. She was the near-unanimous Rookie of the Year (getting 66 of 67 votes) and finished fourth in overall MVP voting as the highest-voted guard.
“Historic,” Clark told TIME when asked to describe her past year. “… I’ve been able to captivate so many people that have never watched women’s sports, let alone women’s basketball, and turn them into fans.”
Caitlin Clark book: Celebrate Caitlin Clark’s historic rookie season with the Fever with our special book!
In her first year in the WNBA, Clark broke a litany of records — both on and off the court.
Clark broke the WNBA single-season assists record with 336, led the league with 8.4 assists per game, set a new single-game WNBA record with 19 assists against the Dallas Wings, broke the rookie assists record, broke the rookie scoring record, had the most 3-pointers by a rookie, became the first rookie in WNBA history to record a triple-double (twice), and the list could go on.
She had the most All-Star Game fan votes ever by a wide margin, had the most assists by a rookie in the All-Star Game, and nearly broke the All-Star Game overall assists record.
The Fever had a league-high 36 games on national television and averaged over 17,000 fans at Gainbridge Fieldhouse per game over the summer. The Fever had over 300,000 total fans come through their gates in 2024, shattering previous WNBA attendance records.
She had fans come out in droves on the road, too, as economist Ryan Brewer projected 1 in every 6 tickets sold for WNBA games this year was connected to Clark, according to a past IndyStar article. Brewer also projected that Clark was responsible for a staggering 26.5% of leaguewide activity.
Clarkonomics: Dissecting complexity of paying Fever star what she’s really worth
While Clark was only paid around $76,000 from the WNBA in her rookie season, her lucrative sponsorship deals landed her on a list of the highest-paid female athletes in the world. Clark is projected to make around $11.1 million in 2024, according to a study from Sportico, making her the highest-paid women’s basketball athlete and 10th-highest paid women’s athlete in the world. That money comes from deals with Nike and State Farm (in which she stars in nationwide commercials), Gatorade, Panini, Wilson, Hy-Vee, Xfinity, Gainbridge and Lilly.
Clark’s ascension was a catalyst for the WNBA, but the league was already growing exponentially before she entered the fray in 2024. A lot of that growth came because of Black players, including three-time MVP and Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson, New York Liberty MVP Jonquel Jones and the Connecticut Sun’s DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas.
Clark, as a white woman from West Des Moines, Iowa, in a majority-Black league, unintentionally became a flashpoint for some racially-motivated discussions around the league. While talking to TIME, Clark wanted to shut those conversations down.
“I want to say I’ve earned every single thing, but as a white person, there is privilege,” Clark told TIME. “A lot of those players in the league that have been really good have been Black players. This league has kind of been built on them. The more we can appreciate that, highlight that, talk about that, and then continue to have brands and companies invest in those players that have made this league incredible, I think it’s very important. I have to continue to try to change that. The more we can elevate Black women, that’s going to be a beautiful thing.”
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark named 2024 TIME Athlete of the Year
