Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark had a mentally grueling journey back to the top this season after playing only 13 games in her second year due to multiple lower-body injuries. But the 24-year-old went on to produce her best season yet, becoming the only player in WNBA history to finish in the top three for both points (22.3) and assists (8.3).
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Clark’s playmaking proficiency was at its best, setting a new league record with 41.2 points created per game. And when the awards season arrived, Clark was eventually chosen for the All-WNBA First Team. While Fever fans have celebrated this recognition after a shaky end of the season, WNBA analyst Trysta Krick doesn’t share the sentiment.
“I would take off Caitlin and put her in second team only because it’s a recency bias award,” Krick asserted on The Daily W appearance. “So we people forget that Caitlin started off the year so slow. She was really, really bad in the beginning of the year, and it looked like something was physically wrong with her. Just not scoring, not moving well, getting blown out by the Portland Fire, turning the ball over, getting into it with Stephanie White. Things were not good in the beginning for Caitlin.”
Krick added that she would swap the places of Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young and Clark, given Young was selected in the All-WNBA Second Team. Krick’s opinion did not sit well across social media, as fans on X immediately pushed back on her take.
“CC was literally player of the month in June, lol, and nobody could touch her numbers post-FIBA break.” One fan disagreed with Krick’s claim that Clark had a slow start. Clark won the Player of the Month award in June after averaging 21.9 points, 8.2 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 10 games, according to StatMuse.
“Is this serious? CC started slow so Jackie Young should have been first team?!? Did she forget what a rough start Jackie had? I love Jackie, but this is a bad argument.” One fan argued that choosing the Aces guard to replace Clark makes no sense, as Young did not do wonders herself when the season began. She averaged 11.8 points, 6.1 assists, and 4.8 rebounds in the first 8 games.
“Jackie Young literally had 2 games where she scored zero points,” another comment added. On May 17, Young did not score against the Atlanta Dream in 34 minutes. She went scoreless again on May 23 against the Los Angeles Sparks in 19 minutes.
By comparison, Clark did better than Young, averaging 20.1 points, 8.1 assists, and 4.0 rebounds in 7 games. “CC ‘slow’ start was better than almost everyone.” One comment said.
“That slow start was why CC wasn’t a stronger candidate for MVP. The time it took to trust her body again, and the games she was on dumb minutes restrictions, did impact her overall season performance,” a fan believes Clark already paid the price for gradually coming into form and not going all out as soon as the season began through her MVP voting. The 24-year-old finished fourth, with A’ja Wilson, Olivia Miles, and teammate Kelsey Mitchell above her. Moreover, Clark operated under a minutes restriction due to a recurring back injury.
Krick was not the only one to doubt Clark’s selection on the All-WNBA First Team. Chuck Modiano, a sportswriter and co-host of The Collision on WPFW, also took aim at the Fever star’s selection.
“CC is not a Top 5 player in ANY combo stat. CC was a media popularity pick to appease a profitable fan base,” Modiano wrote on X.
Still, it was a comeback year for Caitlin Clark, who wrote “a season of being healthy and doing what I love” in a recent Instagram post talking about her third year in the WNBA. And while Clark will always have critics, it is safe to presume she will be in the All-WNBA conversation again next season.