INDIANAPOLIS — TIME magazine has named Caitlin Clark as its 2024 Athlete of the Year.
The 22-year-old has set the WNBA on fire, setting a boggling number of records from assists in a game to points by a point guard in a season. She set a rookie three-pointer record while shooting from farther out, on average, than the NBA's Steph Curry.
Along with sophomore Aliyah Boston and veteran Kelsey Mitchell, Clark helped propel the Fever to their first playoff berth in eight years. All of that within months of finishing a record-setting NCAA career, where she scored more points than any player — male or female — in Division I history.
TIME writer Sean Gregory said this of her immediate impact:
"While other female athletes have pushed the limits of human achievement and created their own cultures—Serena Williams, Simone Biles, and the stars of the U.S. women’s national soccer team all come to mind—the Clark phenomenon is still unprecedented. It’s one thing to rally around athletes during global spectacles like tennis majors or an Olympics or a World Cup. It’s quite another to turn routine regular-season games in the WNBA, a league neglected for far too long over its 27-year history, into appointment viewing."
Within months of Clark joining the league, the WNBA signed a new 11-year media deal worth close to $3 billion. The WNBA players' union is already calling for new salary negotiations. Despite setting WNBA attendance records for her games, Clark made just over $76,000 from her Fever contract last year. Of course, she made much, much more with sponsorship deals with Gatorade, Wilson and State Farm.
"On behalf of the Indiana Fever and Pacers Sports & Entertainment, we are incredibly proud that Caitlin Clark has been recognized as TIME Magazine’s Athlete of the Year," Fever president Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement. "Her historic year has not only transcended the sport, but she has also inspired generations of new fans around the world to follow the game of women’s basketball."
Clark has become a cultural event even when she isn't on the court. She drew big crowds at the LPGA's Annika Pro-Am. Taylor Swift fans hurled their friendship bracelets at her when she attended two of the mega-star's concerts in Indianapolis, the last American shows of the Eras Tour.
Clark's dominance on the court and off of it have drawn unprecedented attention to the WNBA and given a big boost to Indianapolis businesses. With the highest ticket prices in the league, the Fever have become destination viewing for Hoosiers and fans from across the country.
You can read the full TIME magazine article on Clark by clicking here.