With the 2024 WNBA regular season fast approaching, it’s time to prognosticate this season’s awards. Let’s begin with the award that seems to have the biggest frontrunner in quite some time: Rookie of the Year.
Is Caitlin Clark a sure thing? Who might steal the honor from the Indiana Fever guard?
Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever)
This award is Caitlin Clark’s to lose. She averaged a monstrous 31.7 points per game in her final season at Iowa and was drafted at the No. 1 spot in the 2024 WNBA Draft due to her ability to dominate a game single-handedly.
She lived up to the hype in her preseason debut for the Indiana Fever, scoring 21 points in her 28 minutes of play. It wasn’t enough to get Indiana the win as they lost 79-76 to the Dallas Wings, but it demonstrated how good she will be in this league.
Last season, Clark’s new teammate, Aliyah Boston, was voted the unanimous Rookie of the Year. Clark has a great chance of ensuring that the award stays in Indiana for another year.
Cameron Brink (Los Angeles Sparks)
Cameron Brink has a golden opportunity to take the keys to the Los Angeles Sparks and usher in a new era. With iconic bigs like Candace Parker and Nneka Ogwumike etched into LA history, the expectation is there for Brink to carry on that legacy.
The collegiate Defensive Player of the Year should get plenty of opportunities to establish herself as the bona fide starter. If she scores enough and stays healthy, she’ll have a great chance of winning the award.
Angel Reese (Chicago Sky)
Angel Reese already has had some exciting moments during her rookie preseason with the Chicago Sky. She had an incredible 24 hours, attending the Met Gala and then following that up with a 13-point performance in the Sky’s 101-53 thrashing of the New York Liberty in preseason action.
After the game, she showed that she has swagger on the court, the runway and the social media streets, getting chippy at anyone who might not like her way of doing things.
so now yall can delete them drafts & tweets saying i shouldn’t have gone to the met gala & i can’t do both. I CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST WHO STRENGTHENS ME pic.twitter.com/94szSURbEQ
— Angel Reese (@Reese10Angel) May 8, 2024
It’s not just bark but bite with Reese, and given her ability and opportunity for heavy minutes in Chicago, she will have a chance to make enough noise to be in the running for Rookie of the Year.
Final thoughts
The odds are that, barring injury, Clark will win this award with ease. But that doesn’t make the award or this new class of players any less exciting. They’ve already caused a huge spark in interest, and if these early moments are any indication, the best of this class is yet to come as the 2024 WNBA season kicks off.