{"id":94161,"date":"2024-09-03T17:18:19","date_gmt":"2024-09-03T21:18:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=94161"},"modified":"2026-03-10T23:45:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-11T03:45:43","slug":"mychal-thompson-feels-caitlin-clark-should-be-mvp-winner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/09\/03\/mychal-thompson-feels-caitlin-clark-should-be-mvp-winner\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Champion Feels Caitlin Clark Should Be In Surprising Award Discussion"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>As the WNBA regular season winds down with just seven games remaining, <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/c\/clarkca02w.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Caitlin Clark<\/a> of the Indiana Fever has solidified her position as the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award. The competition between the 22-year-old and <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/r\/reesean01w.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Angel Reese<\/a> of the Chicago Sky was once neck and neck, but Clark now seems to have pulled ahead significantly. Caitlin Clark has impressed so much that she is now being seen as a potential MVP this season.<\/p>\n<h2>Lakers Champion Feels Caitlin Clark Should Be in Surprising Award Discussion<\/h2>\n<h3>Post-Olympics Renaissance<\/h3>\n<p>Since returning from a month-long Olympic break, Clark has posted astonishing statistics in seven games, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/c\/clarkca02w\/gamelog\/2024\/#wnba_pgl_basic\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">averaging<\/a> 24.6 points on 47.6 percent shooting, five rebounds, nine assists, and one steal per game. Additionally, she&#8217;s been exceptional from beyond the arc, averaging 4.0 three-pointers per game on a 40.8 percent shooting clip.<\/p>\n<p>More crucially, Clark has led the Fever to six victories in their last seven outings, bringing their record to 17-16. This marks the first time Indiana has climbed above .500 this season, placing them sixth in the WNBA standings.<\/p>\n<h3>How Did Clark Become the Clear ROTY Favorite?<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/23\/leading-wnba-rookie-of-the-year-sets-franchise-record-in-what-was-the-most-expensive-game-in-years\/\" target=\"_self\">Reese<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2024\/06\/10\/former-caitlin-clark-iowa-teammate-reveals-who-she-thinks-is-the-best-womens-basketball-player-in-the-world\/\" target=\"_self\">Clark<\/a> have both had standout rookie seasons, making their Rookie of the Year race compelling. Reese started strong, <a  href=\"https:\/\/stats.wnba.com\/player\/1642291\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">averaging<\/a>\u00a013.3 points, 13.1 rebounds, and 1.8 assists per game. Her versatility and impact on the court initially made her a top contender. However, Reese faced challenges, including injuries and team chemistry issues, which affected her consistency.<\/p>\n<p>In contrast, Clark quickly found her footing and maintained exceptional performance throughout the season. Her superior shooting and playmaking, particularly after the Olympic break, helped her pull ahead. Reese\u2019s struggles with team dynamics and injuries allowed Clark to gain the edge. Clark\u2019s consistency, health, and ability to influence games positively impacted her Rookie of the Year chances. Meanwhile, Reese\u2019s performance, although impressive, couldn&#8217;t keep pace due to her challenges. Clark\u2019s contributions to the Fever\u2019s success, including their winning streak, positioned her as the frontrunner. Reese\u2019s early-season dominance gave way to Clark\u2019s sustained performance, making the Rookie of the Year race no longer as close.<\/p>\n<h3>Caitlin Clark for MVP?<\/h3>\n<p>Caitlin Clark&#8217;s remarkable performance has garnered widespread praise from both fans and analysts. There is even growing speculation that the former Iowa standout could be in the running for MVP.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Lemmy see if I got this strait\u2026Best Gard in the WNBA\u2026Leeds leeg in points scored\/assisted\u2026Has taken the WORST team in the leeg to solid PLAYOFF contender\u2026Leeds leeg in assists\u2026and then there\u2019s this\u2026Game attendance avrage WITH Caitlin?15,000\u2026NO Caitlin? 8,000.Thats MVP 2 ME<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Mychal Thompson (@champagnennuts) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/champagnennuts\/status\/1830791350591332759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">September 3, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>One notable supporter of Clark\u2019s MVP potential is former Los Angeles Lakers star <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompmy01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Mychal Thompson<\/a>. On Monday, the two-time NBA champion expressed his thoughts on Twitter (formerly X), making a bold claim regarding Clark\u2019s MVP credentials.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;Let me see if I got this straight,&#8221; Thompson wrote. &#8220;\u2026Best guard in the WNBA\u2026 Leads league in points scored\/assisted\u2026 Has taken the WORST team in the league to solid PLAYOFF contender\u2026 Leads league in assists\u2026 and then there\u2019s this\u2026 Game attendance average WITH Caitlin? 15,000\u2026 NO Caitlin? 8,000. That\u2019s MVP to ME.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Thompson, who is the father of five-time NBA All-Star <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/t\/thompkl01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Klay Thompson<\/a>, made several valid points. He highlighted not only Clark\u2019s impressive statistics but also her significant impact on game attendance. Fan attendance isn\u2019t an official criterion for the MVP award, but it\u2019s an element that certainly can&#8217;t be overlooked.<\/p>\n<h3>The Last Word<\/h3>\n<p>While Las Vegas Aces star <a  href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/wnba\/players\/w\/wilsoa01w.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A&#8217;ja Wilson<\/a> remains the favorite to win her third MVP title this season, it&#8217;s unlikely that Clark will unseat her this year. However, it seems inevitable that Caitlin Clark will eventually claim her first WNBA MVP trophy in the near future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As the WNBA regular season winds down with just seven games remaining, Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever has solidified her position as the frontrunner for the Rookie of the Year award. The competition between the 22-year-old and Angel Reese of the Chicago Sky was once neck and neck, but Clark now seems to have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5018,"featured_media":94200,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"1","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608],"tags":[4945,1631,49157,49063,2957,3642,70,49343,564,3073,1632],"class_list":["post-94161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","tag-2023-2024-season","tag-aja-wilson","tag-angel-reese","tag-caitlin-clark","tag-chicago-sky","tag-indiana-fever","tag-klay-thompson","tag-mychal-thompson","tag-nba-mvp","tag-nba-rookie-of-the-year","tag-wnba"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5018"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=94161"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94161\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":181015,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/94161\/revisions\/181015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/94200"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=94161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=94161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=94161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}