Move over, Rookie of the Year—Caitlin Clark is gunning for a bigger title. ESPN’s Gary Lee Striewski has officially thrown down the gauntlet, declaring that the Indiana Fever’s star rookie deserves to be in the MVP conversation. That’s right, MVP, as in “Most Valuable Player,” not just “Most Valuable Rookie.”
Speaking on The Elle Duncan Show on Tuesday, Striewski did what he does best: stirring the pot. “I’m done talking about Rookie of the Year,” Striewski said, leaning into his mic like a man on a mission. “She should also be in the MVP conversation. I know it’s gonna be A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart—yada, yada, yada. But seriously, how can you leave Caitlin Clark out of that conversation?”
Now, before you roll your eyes and say, “There goes Gary again,” let’s look at the numbers. Clark is not just holding her own; she’s practically holding the whole league together with her jaw-dropping stats. The top pick in this year’s WNBA Draft is leading the league in assists—yes, leading—with 8.3 dimes per game. Add 5.8 rebounds, a team-high 17.8 points, and 1.4 steals in 35 minutes of play, and you’ve got yourself a stat line that screams, “Pay attention to me!”
But here’s the kicker: Clark isn’t just padding stats. She’s actually dragging the Indiana Fever—kicking and screaming—into playoff contention. The Fever started their season like a bad rom-com, going 1-8. But thanks to Clark’s leadership, they’ve turned things around, sitting at a respectable 13-15. And let’s be real, if Clark can lead this team to the playoffs, she deserves more than just ROTY—she deserves a cape.
Caitlin Clark: Assist Queen in the Making
Oh, and did we mention she’s on track to smash the WNBA’s single-season assist record? Because she is. Clark already shattered the rookie assist record with her nine-dime performance in a 92-75 smackdown of the Seattle Storm. She now has 232 assists, surpassing Ticha Penicheiro’s 1998 record of 224. With 12 games left, she’s eyeing Alyssa Thomas’s single-season record of 316 assists like a lion eyeing a gazelle. And with an average of 8.3 assists per game, it’s not a matter of if she’ll break the record, but when.
“If you’d told me I was going to lead the league in assists coming into my rookie season, I would probably have told you that you were lying,” Clark told the media, flashing that signature smirk that’s quickly becoming her trademark. “But I take a lot of pride in that.”
So, there you have it. The ROTY conversation? Boring. Caitlin Clark is shooting for the stars, and Striewski is here to make sure we all notice. It’s time to add a new acronym to your WNBA vocabulary: MVCC—Most Valuable Caitlin Clark.
