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At the end of Caitlin Clark's historic rookie season with the Indiana Fever, many forgot how much she struggled at the beginning of the 2024 campaign. Yet, her exclusion from the 2024 Team USA roster for the Summer Olympics was an incident that will not soon be forgotten as one of the most controversial moments in recent history.
Clark recalled the moment as one of the signature turning points in her rookie season after being recognized by Time magazine as the 2024 Athlete of the Year. The reigning first-team All-WNBA guard admitted that the decision upset her at first but was one she understood given her lack of professional experience.
“A point everybody was making was like, ‘Who are you taking off the team?'” Clark said, via Time magazine. “And that was a tremendous point… [Early in the year], I gave them a lot of reasons to keep me off the team with my play.
“I don’t want to be there because I’m somebody that can bring attention. I love that for the game of women’s basketball. But at the same time, I want to be there because they think I’m good enough. I don’t want to be some little person that is kind of dragged around for people to cheer about and only watch because I’m sitting on the bench. That whole narrative kind of upset me because that is not fair. It’s disrespectful to the people that were on the team, that had earned it and were really good. And it’s also disrespectful to myself. ”
Caitlin Clark's post-Olympics historic stats with Fever
It was likely not a coincidence that after the month-long Olympic break, Clark led the Fever to become one of the league's most potent offenses. However, as upsetting as the decision might have been, the rest was undeniably beneficial to her after nine straight months of nonstop action.
In the 14 games after the All-Star and Olympic break, Clark averaged 23.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 8.9 assists. In that time, she simultaneously led the Fever to claim the best offensive rating in the league. Her 8.4 assists per game for the year also led the entire WNBA, leading to her unanimous Rookie of the Year award.
Clark's laundry list of records includes the most single-season points by a point guard in WNBA history and the first triple-double by a rookie in WNBA history, among others. While she has just begun what many believe will be a legendary career, her second season as a professional will begin a new chapter. The Fever fired former head coach Christie Sides at the end of the season and subsequently re-hired Stephanie White.
