{"id":629,"date":"2024-06-04T19:19:07","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T13:49:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/?p=444062"},"modified":"2024-06-04T19:19:07","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T13:49:07","slug":"did-caitlin-clark-deserve-wnba-rookie-of-the-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/other-sports\/did-caitlin-clark-deserve-wnba-rookie-of-the-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Did Caitlin Clark deserve WNBA Rookie of the Month?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first month of the 2024 WNBA season is in the books, which means it\u2019s time to dish out some accolades. For the rookies, one name rose to the top \u2014 and it\u2019s one you\u2019ve probably heard before.<\/p>\n

Fever guard Caitlin Clark snagged the WNBA Rookie of the Month award for May. After dazzling audiences during her stellar NCAA career at Iowa, Clark hit the ground running in the professional ranks. While she might not yet be schooling the pros as she did in college, it\u2019s only natural \u2014 after all, the WNBA boasts the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me of women\u2019s basketball talent.<\/p>\n

This accolade comes hot on the heels of a spicy encounter with Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter, stirring up a cocktail of controversy and backlash for the league\u2019s newest sensation.<\/p>\n

So, does Clark truly deserve the Rookie of the Month crown, or are the critics onto something? Was she the undeniable rookie star, or is there more to the story? Let\u2019s crunch the numbers and see how Clark stacks up against her fellow first-year phenoms like Angel Reese, Cameron Brink, and others in the great Rookie of the Month debate.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Did Caitlin Clark deserve WNBA Rookie of the Month?\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Clark isn\u2019t lighting up the scoreboard with 30-point games as she did back in her college days. In fact, she\u2019s only hit the 30-point mark once in her first 11 games at the pro level.<\/p>\n

However, what we are seeing is the full breadth of her game, which often gets overshadowed when she\u2019s channeling her inner Steph Curry with those deep three-pointers. Her playmaking skills have smoothly transitioned to the WNBA, and she\u2019s quickly established herself as the leader of the Indiana Fever.<\/p>\n

For the month, Clark averaged 17.6 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 6.6 assists per game. She tops the Fever\u2019s charts in both points and assists per game, making her the clear centerpiece of their offense.<\/p>\n

Critics might be quick to highlight her turnovers. Sure, you\u2019d prefer her 5.4 turnovers per game \u2014 the highest in the league \u2014 to be lower, but consider the company she\u2019s keeping. Right behind her are stars like Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun, Skylar Diggins-Smith of the Seattle Storm, and Arike Ogunbowale of the Dallas Wings.<\/p>\n

High turnovers often come with having the ball in your hands the most, a trait of a team\u2019s best player. It\u2019s no surprise Clark leads this category too, given her pivotal role.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Caitlin Clark\u2019s stats\u00a0vs. WNBA rookies<\/em><\/h3>\n

Clark\u2019s numbers were impressive enough to make her shine not just on her team but among all rookies. She\u2019s part of a stacked WNBA rookie class featuring phenoms like Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky, Cameron Brink of the Los Angeles Sparks, and even her own teammate, Aaliyah Edwards.<\/p>\n

Clark isn\u2019t the only rookie making waves. In Los Angeles, Brink has seamlessly adapted to the pro game, standing tall as the league\u2019s third-best shot blocker with 2.6 blocks per game. Meanwhile, Reese is dominating the paint for the Sky, pulling down 8.9 rebounds per game, ranking seventh across the entire WNBA.<\/p>\n

So, does Clark truly deserve the Rookie of the Month accolade? Let\u2019s see what the numbers have to say.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Games<\/td>\nMIN<\/td>\nPPG<\/td>\nAPG<\/td>\nRPG<\/td>\nSPG<\/td>\nBPG<\/td>\nFG%<\/td>\n3PT%<\/td>\nFT%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Caitlin Clark (IND)<\/td>\n11<\/td>\n33.0<\/td>\n15.6<\/td>\n6.4<\/td>\n5.1<\/td>\n1.3<\/td>\n1.0<\/td>\n35.7<\/td>\n29.7<\/td>\n89.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Cameron Brink (LAS)<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n24.6<\/td>\n8.8<\/td>\n2.1<\/td>\n5.4<\/td>\n1.1<\/td>\n2.6<\/td>\n47.2<\/td>\n36.8<\/td>\n81.3<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Angel Reese (CHI)<\/td>\n7<\/td>\n28.6<\/td>\n10.6<\/td>\n1.9<\/td>\n8.9<\/td>\n1.3<\/td>\n0.0<\/td>\n35.3<\/td>\n0.0<\/td>\n66.7<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Aaliyah Edwards (IND)<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n20.1<\/td>\n6.5<\/td>\n0.9<\/td>\n4.3<\/td>\n0.8<\/td>\n0.9<\/td>\n42.0<\/td>\n0.0<\/td>\n52.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rickea Jackson (LAS)<\/td>\n8<\/td>\n24.3<\/td>\n10.0<\/td>\n0.4<\/td>\n3.1<\/td>\n0.5<\/td>\n0.1<\/td>\n49.1<\/td>\n46.7<\/td>\n82.6<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kamilla Cardoso (CHI)<\/td>\n1<\/td>\n18.0<\/td>\n11.0<\/td>\n0.0<\/td>\n6.0<\/td>\n0.0<\/td>\n0.0<\/td>\n71.4<\/td>\n0.0<\/td>\n50.0<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The first month of the 2024 WNBA season is in the books, which means it\u2019s time to dish out some\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":294,"featured_media":23767,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[3817,2577],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-other-sports","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-wnba"],"reading_time":"3 min read","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/294"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23767"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.businessupturn.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}