It’s been a transformative year in the WNBA.
Thanks to the arrival of former Iowa superstar Caitlin Clark and the rest of this rookie class, the WNBA is enjoying record TV ratings. The average audience for WNBA games in 2023 on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, ION and NBA TV was 462,000 viewers.
Based on reports shared by the league, that figure nearly tripled in the first month of the 2024 season. An average of 1.32 million viewers tuned into games aired on ABC, ESPN, ESPN2, CBS, ION and NBA TV in the season’s first month.
Of course, any time Clark and fellow rookie Angel Reese get together on the court, it seems to rate very, very well. Each of their past two contests were the most-watched WNBA games since the Memorial Day 2001 meeting between the Los Angeles Sparks and Houston Comets drew 2.44 million viewers.
The Indiana Fever‘s 91-83 win over the Chicago Sky on June 16 drew 2.25 million viewers on CBS. Then, this past Sunday, the Sky’s come-from-behind 88-87 victory over the Fever pulled in 2.30 million viewers on ESPN.
Clark and Reese both put together record performances in their most recent installment of the burgeoning Fever-Sky rivalry. Clark became the first rookie in league history to score 15 or more points, dish out 10 or more assists and connect on five or more 3-pointers in a WNBA game. Clark also set the Indiana Fever’s single-game franchise assists record with 13 helpers against the Sky.
Meanwhile, Reese finished with a career-high 25 points and 16 rebounds. It was her eighth consecutive double-double, extending her WNBA rookie record.
Reese scored 10 of her 25 points in the game’s final 6:38 to help erase a 12-point deficit. That included her go-ahead bucket with 53.2 seconds left to play.
That type of play has routinely had Clark and Reese right toward the top of any WNBA Rookie Rankings out there. CBS Sports unveiled its latest edition of WNBA Rookie Rankings, and Clark’s name is no longer on top.
Instead, CBS Sports’ Isabel Gonzalez, has Reese atop her latest WNBA Rookie Rankings.
Reese has been productive on the boards and is currently No. 2 in the league with 11.1 rebounds per game. Against Indiana, she tallied a career-high 25 points along with 16 rebounds, and she’s now just one double-double away from tying Candace Parker’s single-season record streak from 2015.
Reese’s rebounding skills translated to the WNBA right away, but she had been struggling to finish around the basket. Earlier this month, Atlanta Dream center Tina Charles told her to take her time when trying to score, and Reese said that advice has helped her improve her field goal percentage. Since June 8, Reese has been at least at 50% in four of six games. – Gonzalez, CBS Sports.
At this point, it really feels like a two-player race for the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award. Clark or Reese will capture that hardware once the season concludes.
Coming in at No. 2 in her latest WNBA Rookie Rankings, here’s what Gonzalez wrote about Clark.
Clark is averaging a solid 16.3 points per game while also passing the ball extremely well. Her 13 assists against the Sky were the most in Fever history. Clark is averaging 6.6 assists per game, good for fourth best in the WNBA.
But, of course, Clark is known for her shooting range, and that skill is also translating nicely. She has registered a total of 51 3-pointers so far, just one less than Sabrina Ionescu and Kayla McBride for the league lead. – Gonzalez, CBS Sports.
After Reese and Clark, the rest of Gonzalez’s top five looks like this: the Chicago Sky’s Kamilla Cardoso at No. 3, the Los Angeles Sparks’ Rickea Jackson at No. 4 and the Dallas Wings’ Jacy Sheldon at No. 5.
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