A simple stat became a much bigger conversation for WNBA analyst Zena Keita. After facing a wave of criticism for a mistake involving Caitlin Clark and Olivia Miles, she took to X to set the record straight with a public correction.
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It all started when a clip of Keita, during an appearance on The Athletic’s No Offseason podcast on July 20, claimed that the WNBA record for assists by a rookie during a single season was held by Miles, when in actuality, it was Caitlin Clark’s record. That exchange was clipped and posted to X by @BrickCenter_, which Keita responded to with another X post. But after serious backlash on that post as well, she posted further clarification on the matter.
“For what it is worth, I AM genuinely sorry for unintentionally sharing a bad stat. My producers and I should have caught that before posting and will do better moving forward,” she wrote on X.
“This was a simple misspeak. The stat was that she broke the LYNX rookie single assist record, not WNBA. I had done 2 podcasts before this one & simply misspoke. I am not racist, and I don’t hate CC. You can think whatever else past that, idc [I don’t care],” read her previous post on X, clarifying her stance.
The 2026 second overall pick, Miles, currently holds the Minnesota Lynx franchise record for most assists by a rookie in a season, not the WNBA record for the same. The previous Lynx franchise record was held by guard Noel Quinn, who made a total of 148 assists in 34 games during her rookie year of 2007. Miles currently sits at 228 assists over 37 WNBA games, which is 109 behind Caitlin Clark’s stellar 2024 rookie-year mark of 337 over 40 games.
In the clip that was reposted to X, Keita was bringing attention to Miles’ outstanding rookie season, where she has built a runaway case for the Rookie of the Year award. She especially praised the guard’s playmaking ability, as well as the leadership in being able to step into a team missing their best player for a significant part of the season.
“Olivia Miles has also made her mark this season, setting the all-time WNBA rookie assist record,” she said. “It’s kind of crazy to look at some of the numbers that she’s putting up in a single season. Six assists, over six assists. She has almost a two-assist-to-turnover ratio, which is good, right? When you think about having the ball in your hands that much, that young, and this is with a season that’s been majority without Napheesa Collier. It’s pretty impressive for her to have a ratio of two in her assist-to-turnover ratio.”
Keita’s response was meant to signal to fans that her mistake had nothing to do with race, after she was called out in the comments for burying Caitlin Clark’s achievement because of her race.
The Lynx still have four games left, but unless she goes on a record-breaking stretch, Miles is highly unlikely to overtake Caitlin Clark’s mark of 337 assists this season. That being said, Clark’s current MVP-caliber season might turn into a problem if she actually does end up winning the award this year.
Caitlin Clark winning MVP could spell salary cap trouble for Indiana
Throughout the season, Indiana has built the best offense of 2027 on the back of the Clark and Mitchell duo. The pair have set a new standard for what’s possible by a WNBA duo and, by 29 August, had set a WNBA record by scoring 30 or more points each in the same game four times in a single season.
Meanwhile, Aliyah Boston has anchored Fever’s struggling defense for the entire season. Without Boston in the mix, the Fever’s defense has struggled even more than they usually do. However, with all three being key pieces of the team, their contracts may cost the Fever more money than they have, according to Rachel DeMita.
“So Aliyah Boston is on her EPIC contract, and again this is part of the new CBA, so Aliyah Boston unlocked this maximum contract deal – the supermax deal essentially during her 4th season because of how the new CBA rules are,”
“Now, Caitlin Clark will also be eligible for a max contract next season. Because of this provision, she will be eligible for a supermax contract if she wins MVP this season. Kelsey Mitchell is also on a max contract deal…”
“And I’m just not sure if they have the salary cap, if they have the space to be able to do that for Kelsey, Caitlin, and Aliyah Boston. But after how they’ve performed this season, you’d probably want to keep those three together, specifically Caitlin and Kelsey because they have proven to be the best backcourt, maybe ever, in the WNBA,” DeMita said in the latest episode of her podcast Courtside Club on YouTube.
So while the Indiana Fever are actually pushing for the WNBA to consider giving the duo of Clark and Mitchell a Co-MVP award, DeMita is skeptical whether they can afford three stars on super-max contracts while maintaining the rest of the squad as it is.