Caitlin Clark (Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images)
Caitlin Clark was named the WNBA Rookie of the Year and her boyfriend, Connor McCaffery, had the perfect response.
“Duh,” McCaffery, 26, wrote via Instagram Story, to which he had shared the Indiana Fever’s post announcing Clark, 22, as the Associated Press WNBA Rookie of the Year on Sunday, September 22, the same day she made her playoffs debut in Connecticut against the Sun. (The Fever lost to the Connecticut Sun 93-69.)
As the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA draft, the Fever guard was unanimously named the top rookie in the league by the Associated Press. Per the Indiana Fever, Clark and Aliyah Boston are the only players for the team to ever be named AP Rookie of the Year.
“Caitlin is special. Everybody knows that. She’s been special,” Fever coach Christie Sides told the IndyStar of Clark on Sunday in a postgame interview. “She came into the best league in the world. She found her footing. She’s continued to get better. She’s put herself in a position to be one of the best players in this league. She’s one of the reasons we’re here today.”
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Clark spoke to AP about the “tremendous honor,” and took the opportunity to gush over her teammates. “This recognition wouldn’t be possible without an incredible group of teammates and coaches, and we are looking forward to continuing an exciting regular season in the postseason,” she said on Sunday.
Clark also received the honors of being named to the All-WNBA First Team, where she is joined by Napheese Collier, Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas and A’ja Wilson, as well as the AP All-Rookie Team alongside Kamilla Cardoso, Leonie Fiebich, Rickea Jackson and Angel Reese.
It’s no secret that McCaffery and Clark are each other’s biggest fans. After she was named the No. 1 WNBA draft pick, the couple celebrated her career milestone with a night out in New York City. At the time, Clark gushed over her boyfriend in a sweet upload via her Instagram Story.
“My fave person in the world,” she captioned the April post. (Clark and McCaffery went public with their romance in August 2023.)
Clark has broken multiple records for the WNBA since the start of her season. In a July 6 game against the New York Liberty, Clark landed not only the first triple-double of her career but the first triple-double for a rookie in the WNBA. Last month, she broke the record for most rookie assists in a season while playing against the Seattle Storm, leading the league with an average of 8.3 assists per game.
“If you’d told me I was going to lead the league in assists coming in here in my rookie season, I probably would have told you that you were lying,” Clark said during an August postgame interview, reported by ESPN. “But I take a lot of pride in that. I want to set my teammates up first and foremost because that’s going to help you have the most successful team.”
While Clark was named Rookie of the Year, she finished fourth in the AP’s voting for WNBA Player of the Year, which was unanimously awarded to A’ja Wilson. “It means a lot,” Wilson, 28, told AP on Sunday. “The preparation you put in, the approach I set myself up for this season.”
