Caitlin Clark’s spectacular, record-breaking rookie season is officially over.
It came to an end on Wednesday night at the hands of the Connecticut Sun, who secured a 87-81 victory against the Indiana Fever in Game 2 of their best-of-3, first-round playoff series.
Clark’s record-breaking rookie season is officially overGetty
Clark finished the game with 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds, hitting 10-of-23 from the field, including an unusually subpar 3-of-12 from 3-point range.
The 22-year-old, who helped the Fever to their first postseason since 2016, has already been named Associated Press’ (AP) Rookie of the Year, and is the heavy favorite to win the WNBA‘s Rookie of the Year, too.
In the end, her final rookie season stats were scarily similar to NBA counterpart and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year, Victor Wembanyama.
However, their on-court earnings from their respective rookie contracts couldn’t be further apart.
In her first year, including the playoffs, Clark scored 805 points, recorded 354 assists and pulled down 237 rebounds in 42 games.
That averages out at 19.2 points per game, 8.4 assists per game and 5.7 rebounds per game.
Wemby, on the other hand, averaged 21.4 points, 10.6 rebounds and 3.9 assists in 71 games in the 2023-24 season. He also had an NBA-leading 3.6 blocks per game.
The San Antonio Spurs phenom has the slight edge on points, the clear advantage in terms of rebounds and blocks (he is 7ft 3in, after all), while Clark, the more natural playmaker, fared significantly better in assists.
In her debut pro season, the former Iowa Hawkeyes sharpshooter, dubbed the ‘Steph Curry of the WNBA’, connected on 41.7 percent of her field goal attempts, along with 34.4 percent from 3-point range, and 90.5 percent from the free throw line.
Wembanayama, meanwhile, shot 46.5 percent from the field, 32.5 percent from beyond the arc, and 79.6 percent from the stripe as he was crowned The Association’s standout rookie.
Clark has taken women’s basketball to new heights this seasonGetty
San Antonio Spurs star Wemby signed mouth-watering rookie deal in 2023Getty
The numbers show the NBA and WNBA pair are in the same ballpark when it comes to the main statistical categories.
They also broke records at an equally relentless pace.
Clark led the league in assists, setting regular-season WNBA records for assists in a season (337), while also setting the record for points scored or assisted on in a season (1,520), points by a rookie (769) and 3-point field goals by a rookie (122).
Not to be outdone, French star Wemby led all NBA rookies in scoring, rebounding and blocks per game average, and became the first player in NBA history to score 1,500 points (1,522), block 250 shots (254) and hit 100 3-point shots (128) in a single season.
All this essentially boils down to one thing: Clark and Wembanyama are unique, generational talents the likes of which neither league has seen before.
But even with Clarkmania in full effect, CC’s rookie year earnings pale in comparison to Wembanyama’s.
The Fever superstar is set to earn $338,056 over her first four years as pro, according to the WNBA’s collective bargaining agreement (CBA), meaning her rookie salary for this season is a paltry $76,500.
In contrast, Wemby signed a $55 million four-year contract as a rookie in 2023, earning him $12.1 million in his debut season.
That’s over $12 million more than what Clark has made, despite the fact Clark’s off-court impact has seen TV viewings figures, social media engagement, and jersey and ticket sales reach unprecedented levels.
Caitlin Clark is expected to have sport-changing effect on the WNBAGetty
While Clark is expected to make millions in endorsement deals, the financial disparity between the top men’s and women’s professional basketball leagues in the world is nothing new. It has been a controversial issue for many years.
In the NBA, players took home an average annual salary of over 12 million US dollars for the 2023-24 season, while the average WNBA salary is just over $100k.
Las Vegas Aces star Jackie Young was the highest earner in the W last season, making $252,420 a year going into 2024.
Compare that to the NBA’s highest earner last season, Denver Nuggets‘ Nikola Jokic, who topped the salary charts at $55.2 million.
A key reason given for the glaring pay disparity between the two league’s is the WNBA’s lower revenues.
Last year, the WNBA was projected to make $180 million to $200 million while the NBA recently generated an estimated $10 billion for one season.
The WNBA also plays a shorter 40-game, four-month season compared to the NBA’s six months, and has only been around for 28 years compared to the NBA’s 72.
Clark and Reese are two of the biggest things to happen to the WNBA in yearsGetty
It also has less teams — although it’s reportedly looking to expand to 16 teams by 2028 — makes significantly less in media rights, and has worse revenue sharing between league and player contract, set out in the CBA (which was signed by WNBA players).
However, there’s still plenty of reasons to be hopeful.
The WNBA’s recent CBA started in 2020 and runs through 2027, but there is an option to opt out of the agreement earlier.
It seems increasingly likely players will opt out of the current CBA, meaning they will be able to renegotiate better terms and pay off the back of the new wave of interest around the WNBA — led by Clark and fierce rival Angel Reese.
There’s also a new media rights deal on the horizon, a potentially game-changing move for WNBA players and teams who are preparing for a new lucrative era starting in 2026.
Trailblazer Clark will undoubtedly be front and center of this exciting — and lucrative — new era for women’s basketball.
Just like Michael Jordan raised the bar for NBA contracts and endorsement deals, Clark will be viewed as a pioneer for WNBA earnings, making a lot of future athletes richer than they ever would have been without her.
