The WNBA Has Never Had Rookies Like This Before

The WNBA has a bright future, and everybody thinks it’s because of rookies Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese, but what nobody is talking about is the rest of the 2024 WNBA Draft class. Which I believe has the potential to be generational and change the WNBA forever. In this video, we breakdown, analyse every WNBA rookie drafted in the first round, and how they fit with their new WNBA teams.

Caitlin Clark bounced back in a huge way with a historic outing despite the Fever’s loss to the Sparks on Tuesday.

Caitlin Clark is a head-turning talent who brings eyes to women’s basketball, revolutionizing it with each passing game. Now, Clark might be enduring a few rookie rough patches in her first few games with the Indiana Fever. But the 22-year old guard, like superstars of her caliber, tend to figure it out rather quickly. Despite the Fever’s 88-82 loss to the Los Angeles Sparks on Tuesday, Clark had herself a monster game that not too many of players in the history of the WNBA have had.

Clark, in 34 minutes of game time, put up 30 points, five rebounds, six assists, three steals, and three blocks — a stat line all fantasy basketball managers will appreciate. In so doing, the Fever star became just the fourth player in WNBA history to tally those stats in a single game, and she became just the first rookie to do so, according to StatMamba on Twitter (X).

The only three other players to tally this stat line are bonafide stars; as pointed out by Matt Benson, only Breanna Stewart, Angel McCoughtry, and Diana Taurasi have notched 30+ points, five-plus rebounds, six-plus assists, three-plus steals and blocks in a single game — and those three players will be inducted into the Hall of Fame when all is said and done.

Now, Caitlin Clark has a long way to go before she fashions a career for herself like the ones Stewart, McCoughtry, and Taurasi have had. Clark, after all, is only in the beginning of her professional career. The Fever are struggling as well, while the aforementioned trio have had plenty of winning seasons throughout their careers. But the mere fact that Clark is able to do this being as young as she is only bodes well for her long-term prospects to become one of the greatest to ever grace the hardwood.

Caitlin Clark’s efforts aren’t enough to lead the Fever to victory lane

Caitlin Clark, for the most part, has been as dynamic of a rookie as the WNBA has seen. Sure, she can work on her shooting efficiency and her ability to take care of the basketball, but Clark is being guarded as if she’s an established superstar, not someone who only recently joined the league. The attention she draws thanks to her range from beyond the arc is near-unparalleled for a rookie.

Alas, the team around Clark needs plenty of work, as the Fever have scuffled to a 1-7 start. Now Clark hasn’t exactly been at her best; in fact, prior to her stellar night against the Sparks, she scored just 19 points on a combined 6-22 shooting over her past two games. But it’s clear that the Fever haven’t exactly built a team that will lead to early team success in Clark’s career.

Nonetheless, it’s important to note that the powerhouse Las Vegas Aces also needed a few years to establish themselves as the premier team in the association. In fact, they needed three first overall picks in consecutive years before they emerged as one of the best teams in the league. The Fever have two on the roster in Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston, and if this uninspiring start of theirs this season ends up being the norm, not the outlier, then they may be in line to draft either Paige Bueckers or Kiki Iriafen, the consensus top two picks for next year.