Caitlin Clark's Blunt Admission About Rookie of the Year Race With Angel Reese
The 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year race has come down to two players: Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese.
Both stars have had phenomenal rookie seasons, consistently breaking records throughout. Clark recently broke the record for most three-pointers made by a rookie in league history. Reese just saw her streak of three consecutive games with 20 or more rebounds end, which also broke a league record.
Ahead of Friday night's rematch between the Fever and the Sky, Clark discussed the Rookie of the Year race with her rival and declared that she and Reese have other goals in mind.
"I think me and Angel would both give you the same answer," Clark said. "You don't wake up and think about individual awards. I know that's what all of [the media] think we do. We don't. That's what everybody wants to make this about. Both of our teams are competing for playoff spots. That's our main focus."
Clark and the Fever own the seventh seed (15-16) in the playoffs prior to the rematch against Chicago, while Reese and the Sky own the eighth and final spot (11-19), with the Atlanta Dream pulling within one game (10-20).
"That's a selfish thing to just care about an individual award, and she would give you the same exact answer," Clark continued. "I'm sure she has given you the same exact answer. Our focus is on winning basketball games. It's simple as that. It's winning basketball games, and that was the same story for us when we were in college."
Clark and Reese met in the 2023 NCAAW National Championship, where the LSU Tigers beat the Iowa Hawkeyes. She won Player of the Year that season, but odds are Clark would trade that award for a title.
"If you're playing basketball to win individual awards, no matter what level you're out, you're doing it wrong, and that's not fun, and that's not being a good teammate," Clark finished.
With a win, the Fever will move to 16-16 on the season and take the Phoenix Mercury's spot as the sixth seed in the playoffs for the time being.
Although the Sky cannot lose their eighth seed on Friday night, the Dream could tie them in the standings at 11-20 with a Chicago loss and a win of their own. The Sky own the head-to-head tiebreaker, which would keep them just ahead of the Dream in the playoff race.