Clark Chronicles: Caitlin Clark’s Record-Breaking Rookie Season
Caitlin Clark’s rookie season with the Indiana Fever has seen a pause in her impressive run of WNBA records since the All-Star Game on July 20 in Phoenix. The Fever have not held any practices since then, and WNBA games are on hold until mid-August due to the Paris Olympics. This downtime provides an opportunity to review Clark’s achievements 26 games into her professional career and consider the records she might set when the league resumes play.
Caitlin Clark’s WNBA Records
One of Clark’s most notable achievements is setting the WNBA single-game assist record with 19 assists in a game against the Dallas Wings before the All-Star break. This mark is also a rookie record that future players will strive to surpass.
In a game against the Washington Mystics in early July, Clark achieved a rare feat by becoming the first player in WNBA history to record 25 points, 10 or more assists, 5 or more rebounds, 5 or more steals, and 5 three-pointers in a single game. On that day, she was just two blocks short of joining Candace Parker as the second player to record a 5×5 (five in each of the five major statistical categories).
Clark also holds the record for the most double-doubles by a rookie guard, with a series of five consecutive double-doubles in points and assists. This streak is only surpassed by New York Liberty’s Courtney Vandersloot, who achieved six. However, Clark has set a single-season turnover record, which is a notable drawback.
On July 20, Clark set another record by recording the most assists in an All-Star Game with 10. She was just one assist short of matching Sue Bird’s 2017 record. Clark humorously conceded the record to Bird. Additionally, she set franchise records with the Fever for the most single-game assists, achieving 13 assists on four occasions before her 19-assist game, and she became the single-season assist leader for the team.
A significant but sometimes overlooked milestone was Clark’s achievement of the first rookie triple-double in early July. This was also the first triple-double in Fever history. Although she was not the fastest player to achieve a triple-double (a title held by New York Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu, who achieved it in her sixth game), Clark’s accomplishment remains impressive.
Clark’s Fastest-to Records
Clark’s achievements extend to being the fastest rookie to reach 350 points, 120 rebounds, and 150 assists, accomplishing this in just 22 games. She surpassed Ionescu, who reached these milestones in 30 games.
Another notable aspect of Clark’s season is her significant impact on viewership. Fourteen of the sixteen WNBA games this season with at least 1 million viewers have featured Clark. This marks the highest number of such games in a single WNBA season, surpassing the previous record of 15 games set in 1998, which included all three WNBA Finals games that year. The “Clark Effect” is evidently strong.
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