Caitlin Clark has been a busy woman in 2024.
Busy making jumpers, busy breaking records, and busy winning awards.
Last week, the superstar Clark won the ESPY Award for “Best Record-Breaking Performance.” In doing so, Clark once again made history. The No. 1 overall pick in this year’s WNBA Draft became the first woman athlete to earn that ESPY nod.
During a press conference Friday, the Indiana Fever star reacted to winning the award. She humbly accepted it, but thought about the bigger picture, and shared her bewilderment over her history-making achievement.
“I didn’t know that until my little brother sent it to me this morning,” Clark said of the honor. “I think it’s super cool. I think I probably shouldn’t have been the first woman to win that award, in my eyes, just because I grew up supporting so many different female athletes that I idolized and I loved.”
Clark continued. “The amount of records that I saw people break and win. To me, how did Serena Williams never win that award?” she asked. “That’s crazy just thinking about things like that. Hopefully, it’s the start to women getting more recognition and their accomplishments being recognized more.”
Clark also won the ESPY Award for “Best College Athlete, Women’s Sports” and added that she was thrilled for the amount of love that women’s basketball received on the night.
“Something that really stood out to me was like how much women’s basketball was a part of the show. I think it shows where women’s basketball is going and obviously women’s athletics in general,” Clark said. “Obviously Serena [Williams] did a tremendous job hosting. I think that was great. But, to me, Juju [Watkins] won, A’ja [Wilson] won, I won a couple. I think it just shows the excitement around the game and how many people watch and pay attention and where it’s going to go.”
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022