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via Imago<\/p>\n Jul 9, 2025; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) dibbles in the first half against Golden State Valkyries at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n And, in just a couple of weeks, narratives like her being \u201cthe face of the league\u201d started emerging. Remember when Charles Barkley called WNBA players \u201cpetty\u201d for their reluctance to let Clark take over that role? Well, even LeBron James urged more appreciation for the attention Clark brought to the sport and with all that came the pressure to perform at the highest level.<\/p>\n Well, Sue Bird put it best when she said last year on The Rich Eisen Show, \u201cSometimes it feels like the weight of the WNBA is on her shoulders. That is both a compliment and warranted in a lot of ways but also may be a little bit unfair to put so much on her.\u201d<\/p>\n Yes, it was unfair \u2014 but CC kept moving, fighting all criticism and meeting every expectation, even when the media predicted Angel Reese to win Rookie of the Year simply because the Chicago Sky was a game ahead of the Indiana Fever. At last, with her hard work and her mindset \u2014 \u201cI\u2019m 22 years old, and there\u2019s a lot of expectations on my shoulders\u2026 Allowing myself a lot of grace at times is really hard because I\u2019m a perfectionist\u2026\u201d she told The Washington Post \u2014 she nailed it, receiving 66 of 67 votes to become Rookie of the Year.<\/p>\n Well-deserved, right? She already had over 19 rookie records under her name, all while leading the league in assists in just her first year. But now, one year later, Paige Bueckers is facing none of that pressure despite being in a tight race with Sonia Citron for the title.<\/p>\n Just consider, while PB\u2019s leading in scoring with an average of 17.7 points per game in her first 12 games, Sonia Citron\u2019s got 14.2 points per game in her first 12. But the story doesn\u2019t end here, as Citron has her own strengths as she\u2019s far more dangerous from deep, attempting 4.3 three-pointers per game and making 1.5, while Bueckers takes 3.3 and makes 1.0 across the first 12 games.<\/p>\n Still, if you ask who\u2019s got an edge?\u00a0\u201cI still think Paige deserves Rookie of the Year,\u201d Rachael DeAmita\u2019s got an answer, \u201cbut if you\u2019re going by the media standards and what people were saying last year, it\u2019s interesting to compare.\u201d The race does seem tighter this time, but the media isn\u2019t covering it the same way. There\u2019s a reason \u2014 yes, PB is a first-round pick like CC, but the level of expectations for her is different because the Indiana Fever sensation arrived with a bigger immediate impact.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That doesn\u2019t mean Paige Bueckers is any less tough.<\/p>\n When PB arrived, she started slow \u2014 but that\u2019s the norm for rookies in the league. Once she found her rhythm, her impact was immediate, delivering standout performances including a fast-break double-double and a 35-point explosion from beyond the arc.<\/p>\n Just look at the Wings\u2019 last game, where Bueckers scored 17 points to lead the team while moving into a tie for fourth place in W history with Ruthie Bolton for her 25th straight double-double scoring game. That\u2019s something PB has \u2014 along with a championship title \u2014 that CC didn\u2019t achieve in her rookie season.<\/p>\n ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Still, PB knows her journey is different from CC\u2019s \u2014 not only because they play different positions but also because they have different playing styles and goals for their teams. And as for the media attention? PB actually asked for a change back in her final season at Connecticut: \u201cI honestly hope next year I\u2019m not the focal point and the only person that gets attention. I hope as media, as players, we can spread the love a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n And yes, they did \u2014 especially during All-Star weekend, where both players supported each other and seemed to have fun while doing it. So, you know exactly how it is between the two stars. But the question now is: will PB win ROTY?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Last year, the Rookie of the Year race was quite obvious. Yes, Angel Reese went head-to-head with Caitlin…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-76493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"article-image\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/USATSI_26610566.jpg\")
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