Caitlin Clark books seat alongside legend Magic Johnson despite exiting playoffs after agonizing defeat

Modified Sep 26, 2024 14:40 GMT

Though the Indiana Fever were eliminated by the Connecticut Sun in Game 2 of their first-round playoff series, Caitlin Clark capped her rookie season with a unique accolade, putting her name in history alongside NBA legend Magic Johnson. In her final game of the season on Wednesday, Clark became the only WNBA rookie to record more than 25 points, five rebounds and five assists in a playoff game.

The first overall pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft is also the first rookie to record 25 points, six rebounds and nine assists in a playoff game across the NBA and WNBA since Johnson breached the mark during the 1980 NBA season.

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Clark had a historic rookie campaign and led the Fever to their first playoff appearance since 2016. The WNBA All-Star broke various records throughout the season before capping her campaign with the unique accolade on Wednesday.

A few of the other most notable records that the Fever rookie broke during the season include the WNBA single-season-assists record, rookie-points record, rookie-single-season 3-point record and single-game-assists record.

Clark concluded her rookie year averaging 19.5 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game while shooting 41.7% from the field and 34.1% from deep.

"Just scratching the surface" — Caitlin Clark grades her rookie season

Caitlin Clark reviewed her rookie season during the postgame conference after the Indiana Fever's Game 2 elimination against the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday. When asked to grade her rookie campaign, Clark highlighted the impact of the people around her before analyzing her first year in the league.

"I don't know how I would grade myself, I'm a tough grader," Clark said. "I feel like I had a solid year, but for me, the fun part is if I feel like I'm just scratching the surface, and I'm one that's nitpicking every single thing that I do, and I know I wanna help this franchise get even better, help my teammates get even better, be better for my teammates.

"I know there's a lot of room to grow for me, so that's what excites me the most," Clark continued. "I feel like I can continue to get a lot better and before we know it I'm sure we'll all be back here and ready for the next year."

Watch the segment at 15:51 here:

Clark is highly favored to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year honor. She was previously the unanimous choice among the 15-person panel for the Associated Press WNBA Rookie of the Year award, as announced earlier this week.