When Caitlin Clark won the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award following the 2024 season, there was not a lot of fanfare or celebration from the league. While this drew quite a lot of criticism from fans, especially considering the celebration when Paige Bueckers won the same award in 2025, it turns out that the reason for this came down to Clark’s humbleness, not an oversight from the league.
In her New York Times bestseller “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports,” prominent WNBA reporter Christine Brennan reveals that the WNBA actually offered to honor and celebrate Clark in several ways after her Rookie of the Year win, but Clark shut them down.
There was a noticeable difference in the way the WNBA celebrated Bueckers’ Rookie of the Year award compared to Clark’s. When Clark won the award, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert called into a Fever practice during the 2024 playoffs and congratulated Clark on head coach Christie Sides’ cell speakerphone. When Bueckers won this most recent season, however, Engelbert showed up at The Jennifer Hudson Show to present the award to Bueckers in person.
Needless to say, this difference led to a lot of criticism from fans. However, WNBA spokesman Ron Howard told Brennan that there was more going on behind the scenes.
“We offered to come to Indy after the team season had finished and do a press conference and/or have [NBA Entertainment] do a sit down with CC,” Howard wrote in a text message to Brennan on Sept. 16, 2025, via USA Today.
“But both the team and her agent declined the offer … It was difficult to do it while the team was in Connecticut, but we offered to do something in Indianapolis afterwards and we were turned down. Adding to that the fact that we had a chance to do a sit down with her for GMA as well but the opportunities were declined,” Howard continued.
Brennan notes that both Clark and the Indiana Fever declined to comment on Howard’s comments, but fans were quick to praise Clark for her humble response to winning the award.
“Caitlin didn’t want the fanfare! She’s so humble it’s insane. I’m wondering if it was due to all the grief she got in her rookie year for literally everything she did?” one fan wrote in a post on X.
“This is so painfully on brand for Caitlin. The W said they offered her multiple chances to present ROTY in person and even do a GMA segment & her team declined every single one,” someone else added.
“How can anyone dislike CC? She has made every choice with her teammates/league in mind. She just wants to ball,” another fan wrote in a post.
“To the people who keep complaining that CC is not getting the ‘superstar treatment, ‘It seems like CC doesn’t want that,” someone else added.
This is just another instance where Clark has been humble in the face of tremendous success. Ironically enough, it would seem that her humbleness has earned her even more praise.
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