WNBA: Caitlin Clark Named Time’s “Athlete of the Year”

Caitlin Clark turned 22 years old last January.

In March, she set the all-time NCAA Division I basketball career points record (men and women), and led her Iowa Hawkeyes to the national championship game. In April, she won her second John R. Wooden Award as the most outstanding player in women’s college basketball, and then was selected No. 1 overall at the WNBA Draft.

In July, she won two ESPY Awards (record-breaking performance and best college athlete), and in August, she became the first player in history to win both WNBA Player of the Month and WNBA Rookie of the Month. In September, she led the Indiana Fever to their first playoff appearance in eight years.

In October, she was named WNBA Rookie of the Year after setting records for most assists in a game, most assists in a season, the rookie scoring record, the rookie 3-point record, and she became the first rookie in league history to record a triple-double. She did it twice.

It’s hard to argue that anyone in sports had a better year than Clark, and Time Magazine says there is no argument. She has been named Time’s “Athlete of the Year”. 

Clark’s Influence on Sports

If Time’s award was strictly about athletic achievements, Clark would be a deserving winner. But Time also recognizes influence and impact, and for that Clark is the runaway choice.

The NCAA Women’s Tournament championship game drew 18.9 million viewers, which was more than any of the games in the 2024 NBA Finals or World Series. That attention carried over to the WNBA, where a record 54 million unique viewers watched the regular season, a 300% increase. Game attendance was up 48%, with three games this year topping 20,000 fans, and wiyh 38 games drawing more than 15,000 fans. One out of every six WNBA tickets sold this season involved the Indiana Fever.

WNBA merchandise sales went up a staggering 500%, and Indiana University Professor of Finance, Dr. Ryan Brewer, estimates that Clark’s economic impact in just one year on the city of Indianapolis is alone worth $36 million. 

She signed an endorsement deal with Nike worth a reported $28 million, the largest for a women’s basketball player in history. And like her impact for everyone in the WNBA, her success is already opening doors for other women athletes. UConn’s Paige Bueckers, who is predicted to be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft, now has her own Nike signature shoe, which she wore for the first time this week in an 85-52 win over Louisville.

2025 WNBA Futures

The one thing that eluded Clark in her time at Iowa was a national championship. And even though the Fever made it to the playoffs in her first season in the pros, they were swept in the first round.

The greats are ultimately defined by championships, and as she and the Fever look ahead to next season, they are still underdogs. The New York Liberty won their first WNBA title in 2024, and they are the favorites for next year at +180 to win their second. The Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces are both behind New York at +320, and the Connecticut Sun, the team that knocked Indiana out of the playoffs, is +850.

Clark and the Fever are paying +1100 to win the championship.

Her chances are better, at least according to the oddsmakers, of winning the MVP award. Three-time winner A’ja Wilson of the Aces is the favorite at +200, but Clark is right on her heels at +250.

Wilson is only 28, so she’s not going away anytime soon, and her 2024 season is one of the best in WNBA history. She set an all-time record with 26.9 points per game, and for three seasons in a row, she has led the league in blocked shots. Last year, her 11.9 rebounds also led the league.

In order to catch Wilson, Clark needs to have an even better 2025. She will be 23.