With the playoffs right around the corner, the WNBA MVP race is starting to heat up, and one name that has been dominating the conversation is Caitlin Clark. In the game against the Dallas Wings, the Fever guard scored 29 points and dished out 10 assists, which prompted former NFL quarterback Robert Griffin III to put Clark at No. 1 on his MVP list. But if you ask WNBA analyst Rachel DeMita, she has a very different take on the MVP race.

“Caitlin Clark had a relatively slow start to the season, and I say that in terms of Caitlin Clark’s standard. She just wasn’t looking like herself at the beginning of the season. In the past 10 to 15 games, I would say this is the best Caitlin Clark that we’ve ever seen,” DeMita said on Instagram.

DeMita isn’t wrong when she says Clark didn’t have the best of starts to the season. After 10 games, the Fever were sitting at 5-5, while the guard was averaging just 18.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game. Her shooting percentage had also dipped below the 41.7% mark she recorded during her rookie season.

Some of Clark’s performances during that stretch highlighted those struggles. She scored just six points in the loss to Portland while shooting 16% from the field, had a 10-point outing against the Liberty, and scored 16 points against the Valkyries while shooting just 25% from the field. It was clear that Clark was still finding her rhythm and working her way back to full match fitness after playing just 13 games the previous season.

But once she found her rhythm, everything changed. Clark established herself as one of the league’s most impactful players, and to make the case for her MVP candidacy, DeMita pointed to the sheer amount of offense the Fever superstar is creating for Indiana.

According to Hoops Junkie, the Fever guard leads the WNBA in total points created (1,217), points created per game (40.6), and points per minute while also leading the league in assists (8.3) and ranking third in scoring (21.9).

DeMita also highlighted how the Fever star set a record faster than some of the NBA’s biggest stars.

“As of yesterday, she was the fastest player to reach 700 assists in WNBA history. Not just in WNBA history, but also NBA history as well. It took LaMelo Ball 104 games to reach 700 assists, and it took LeBron James 159 games to reach 700 assists. Caitlin Clark did it faster than the both of them,” DeMita added.

It’s quite clear that Caitlin Clark has already stacked up enough standout achievements this season to make her MVP case difficult to ignore. Yet despite all of that, DeMita still believes the 24-year-old has more to prove.

“At this point in time in the season, I don’t think that she is unanimous MVP. I still think she has a lot of work to do, and I still think the Fever have to continue to prove themselves. It’s a very strong and clear case for Caitlin Clark as WNBA MVP this season,” the analyst added.

Reaching 700 career assists in just 83 games is indeed quite a big feat, but there’s another side to her high-volume playmaking that cannot be overlooked: the turnovers.

Clark currently averages 4.6 turnovers per game, the highest mark in the WNBA. Those mistakes give her opponents easy opportunities in transition, either by helping them build a lead or allowing them to erase one Indiana has worked to create.

With the Fever’s slow start to the season and Clark’s turnover issues, that combination could explain why DeMita believes the Fever superstar still has more to prove.

But Clark isn’t the only Fever star with a case for the award. In fact, one of her own teammates has already made it clear that she believes someone else in Indiana deserves the MVP more than Clark.

Aliyah Boston Picks Kelsey Mitchell Over Caitlin Clark for MVP

In a video shared by reporter James Boyd on X last Thursday, Aliyah Boston was seen hailing Kelsey Mitchell as the Fever’s MVP candidate over Caitlin Clark.

“She’s really just the MVP,” Boston said. “I think that’s just what she’s been doing. Every single night you see her come out and she drops. I don’t even know how many points at this rate.”

There are legitimate reasons for Mitchell to be in the MVP conversation. The Fever star is averaging a career-high 24.3 points per game while shooting 50.6% from the field, including an impressive 43.6% from three-point range. She also extended her streak to 19 consecutive games with 20-plus points against the Wings.

She has established herself as one of the league’s best scorers, but despite those impressive numbers, Mitchell is not currently leading the MVP race.

A’ja Wilson and Olivia Miles Lead the MVP Race

It has become a regular occurrence now, but A’ja Wilson is once again the favorite to win the MVP. After becoming the league’s first four-time MVP last season, Wilson leads the league in scoring with 26.1 points per game while also averaging 9.6 rebounds, the third-highest mark in the league, and a league-high 2 blocks per game.

She has also scored in double figures in every game this season and is on track to win her fifth MVP award after already leading the Aces to a playoff berth.

However, she faces stiff competition from a player who could become the first player since Candace Parker to win both Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season: Olivia Miles.

Miles has quickly become the engine driving one of the WNBA’s best teams. She has helped power the Lynx to a league-best 29-7 record while leading all rookies in both scoring at 19.9 points per game and assists at 6.1. Numbers that rank 10th and seventh across the league, respectively, according to USA Today.

She broke Caitlin Clark’s rookie record for three-pointers in a game by knocking down eight threes in Minnesota’s 87-84 win over the Golden State Valkyries. Earlier this month, she also became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 600+ points and 150+ assists, further strengthening her case as a serious MVP contender.

With Wilson, Miles, and Mitchell all firmly in the MVP conversation, it becomes easier to understand why Rachel DeMita was hesitant to call Clark the “unanimous” MVP choice.