The 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year (ROY) race is unfolding to be one of the most electric in years.
Coming off the back of one of the most talked about NCAA women’s basketball tournaments it is perhaps not surprising that the showdown for ROY – drawing ever closer – is garnering so much attention.
But who is leading among the WNBA rookies?
After the news that the No.2 overall draft pick Cameron Brink tore her ACL back in June, the debate surrounding the award has circled two players: Indiana Fever guard and No.1 overall draft pick Caitlin Clark and No.7 pick Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky.
Both players, on and off the court, are becoming household names in basketball. According to a report published by the Sports Business Journal in July, Clark and Reese were first and second in the top-five selling players when it came to league merchandise for the first half of the season.
But of their conquests on the hardwood?
Ahead of their final regular season match-up on Friday 30 August, Olympics.com takes a look at some of Clark and Reese’s remarkable contributions so far this year.
(2024 Getty Images)
Why Caitlin Clark should be 2024 Rookie of the Year
Coming off a record-breaking college career, the spotlight was always set to be on Clark from the first tip-off of this year’s WNBA season.
For the most part, the 22-year-old has taken the attention in her stride, even with the knowledge that turning the Fever – a team that finished 10th last season – into a title contender was always going to be a big ask.
Be that as it may, Clark hasn’t shied away from being the playmaker many hoped she would be. Her connection with reigning ROY Aliyah Boston has been a central part of the Fever’s success throughout the regular season and is evidenced on the stat sheet.
At the time of writing, Clark holds two WNBA rookie season records – for most assists and most three-point shots; holds a franchise record for most single-season assists and is the first-ever rookie in the WNBA’s history to record a triple-double (19 points, 13 assists and 12 rebounds), recording the feat against the first-place New York Liberty back in July.
The ROY race is never about the team’s performance but the Fever have returned from the Olympic break with a 4-1 – and Clark too, is surging.
In their win over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday the rookie netted her 86th three-point shot, surpassing the single-season record set by Rhyne Howard.
But, with any argument, there are two sides and the main case against Clark taking home the title is her turnover rate. The Fever star currently leads the league in turnovers and by some way averaging 7.0 per game.
Could it be enough to undermine her efforts?
Why Angel Reese should be 2024 Rookie of the Year
Well, if the stats paint a pretty picture for Clark, they also do for Reese. And one arena in which the former LSU star is shining is in the coveted realm of double-doubles.
Thanks to her efforts this season, Reese now holds the record for the most consecutive double-doubles recorded in a WNBA regular season, going 15 games marking the statistical feat.
The previous title holder of that record was the esteemed Candace Parker.
Rebounding in general is where Reese continues to dominate.
As well as leading A’ja Wilson to sit atop the stat sheet for ‘rebounds per game’, on her return from the Olympic break, Reese recorded three consecutive games with 20 or more rebounds.
No player in the WNBA’s history has ever had two 20-rebound games on the bounce meaning that, not only is Reese breaking other people’s records, she’s going where no person has gone before.
But as with Clark, Reese too has her detractors. They point mostly to the rising star’s shooting accuracy and how that has impacted her rebounding statistics.
At the time of writing, the Chicago Sky star is making 38.4 per cent of her shots from the field; 73.7 per cent from the free throw line and 18.2 from beyond the arc.
Will her shooting inefficiency be enough to stop the votes going Reese’s way?
When will WNBA Rookie of the Year 2024 be announced?
The WNBA has not yet announced when this year’s Rookie of the Year will be named.
In 2023, the league revealed the winner in October.
WNBA Rookie of the Year Award: Complete list of past winners
Here is a complete list of the previous winners of the WNBA ROY award.
- 2023 Aliyah Boston – Indiana Fever
- 2022 Rhyne Howard – Atlanta Dream
- 2021 Michaela Onyenwere – New York Liberty
- 2020 Crystal Dangerfield – Minnesota Lynx
- 2019 Napheesa Collier – Minnesota Lynx
- 2018 A’ja Wilson – Las Vegas Aces
- 2017 Allisha Gray – Dallas Wings
- 2016 Breanna Stewart – Seattle Storm
- 2015 Jewell Loyd – Seattle Storm
- 2014 Chiney Ogwumike – Connecticut Sun
- 2013 Elena Delle Donne – Chicago Sky
- 2012 Nneka Ogwumike – Los Angeles Sparks
- 2011 Maya Moore – Minnestoa Lynx
- 2010 Tina Charles – Connecticut Sun
- 2009 Angel McCoughtry – Atlanta Dream
- 2008 Candace Parker – Los Angeles Sparks
- 2007 Armintie Price – Chicago Sky
- 2006 Seimone Augustus – Minnesota Lynx
- 2005 Temeka Johnson – Washington Mystics
- 2004 Diana Taurasi – Phoenix Mercury
- 2003 Cheryl Ford – Detroit Shock
- 2002 Tamika Catchings – Indiana Fever
- 2001 Jackie Stiles – Portland Fire
- 2000 Betty Lennox – Minnesota Lynx
- 1999 Chamique Holdsclaw – Washington Mystics
- 1998 Tracey Reid – Charlotte Sting
