From beginning the year as an Iowa sensation to ending it as Time’s Athlete of the Year, Caitlin Clark has had one historical run through 2024. As the year ends, the 2024 ROTY is in no mood to deny it to be her best. But she wouldn’t be alone in embracing the belief.

On the last day of 2024, Clark summed up her year with a few of her best moments. This included winning the ROTY, the draft day, jersey retirement, Time’s honor, and something as simple as walking the fashion tunnel at the WNBA games, the Iowa reunion, or time away with friends and boyfriend Connor McCaffrey. 

“My fav moments from the best year,” she captioned the post, optimistic about the next. “Time to make 2025 even better.” Someone who watched the journey from the front seat, couldn’t argue the year it has been.

Kate Martin, teammate since her Iowa days, opponent on the WNBA hardwood, but ever the cheerleader off of one, straight up agreed, “What a year.” Colin Clark, the younger brother, on the other hand, couldn’t resist some sarcasm. “Decent year I’d say,” he writes. But count on the Clark family’s youngest to be the ultimate fan, frequenting the courtside appearances or subtly defending after Shiela Johnson’s remark against the Athlete of the Year honor. 

He had re-shared a post that highlighted a record-breaking crowd of 20,711 fans who attended a Fever-Mystics game during the season after the latter’s owner opined that the Time’s honor shouldn’t have been individual, but WNBA’s as a whole. While Clark herself did not speak up, there was a whole lot to stand in her defense.

The former Hawkeye’s championship game against South Carolina earlier this year, saw a record-breaking viewership of 18.9 million. Just days prior, the final four and elite eight matchups had drawn 10 million viewers– 9.9 million more from the 2023 championship game. That’s how she began her year. NCAA all-time scoring record, national player of the year honors, no.1 pick at the WNBA draft, and the historic $28 million deal with Nike followed next.

Her impact was no less at the WNBA. Apart from leading the league in assists, breaking the rookie record for three-pointers, and becoming the first rookie to manage a triple-double, she also brought in a massive audience. 22 of 31 games with over a million viewers had Clark playing in them. All this is proof enough for the 2024 ROTY to call the year the best, but she believes she can do more.

Catlin Clark gearing up for 2025, with a little help

The numbers and records have spoken about Clark’s excellence so far, but the 22-year-old still has her flaws and room to add more. To start, the Fever star seems to be expanding her skill set mastering a floater. She was seen trying her hand at it last season, but she had a long way to go. Now in the first practice session clip with new head coach Stephanie White released earlier this month, she looked to have been set on perfecting it.

And Clark couldn’t have found better help than White. The former Connecticut Sun coach is eager to hone a player like CC. “My first conversation with her about X’s and O’s the other day, I was just like, ‘How do you want to improve? What are some of the things you want to improve on?’ And then we’ll talk about how we want to do that,’” White had revealed her plans.

By the season’s end, Clark had admitted she had a lot to improve as a point guard and a leader and she has been at the gym since October, seemingly working on it. Her next goal was to get the Fever to a top-4 seed, but the new HC wishes to aim further. While the team works on it, a pause to look at Clark’s 2024 is sure a treat.