Caitlin Clark beats out Paige Bueckers and Angel Reese as best projected WNBA player in 25 years

Caitlin Clark was already a rising star in college, but her performance in the WNBA helped her take things to a whole new stratosphere. The Indiana Fever star ran away with Rookie of the Year honors. She was also named both the TIMES Magazine and AP Athlete of the Year.

Bleacher Report's staff ranked her No. 2 on their list of the 25 best athletes for the next 25 years, trailing only San Antonio Spurs star Victor Wembanyama:

"Few athletes have had a more profound impact on the popularity of their sport than Caitlin Clark has for women's basketball over the past few years, going back to her time at the University of Iowa," read the article.

Needless to say, that also means she was ranked ahead of some fellow women hoopers, such as Paige Bueckers (16) and Angel Reese (23).

Caitlin Clark reveals her welcome to the WNBA moment

Appearing on the latest episode of Kelce brothers' "New Heights" podcast, she recalled her "welcome to the WNBA" moment. It wasn't that someone crossed her up or dunk on her, but the physicality really let her know it was real.

"We're playing in New York versus the Liberty, who ended up winning the championship this year," Clark said. "And somebody set a screen on me, and, like, I hit my ear like just perfect on the girl where like my eardrum popped and like ruptured. And I knew it right away because I'd done it before. It hurt so bad. I don't know if you guys have ever done that."

That also happened during one of her worst games of the season. It was just his 11th game as a pro, and she finished with three points on 1-of-10 from the floor.

Needless to say, she was quick to bounce back, registering one of the single greatest maiden seasons in WNBA history.

Clark averaged 19.2 points, 5.7 rebounds, 8.4 assists, and 1.3 steals a game while shooting 41% from the floor. She also established other milestones, including the most assists in a single game (19) and a single season (317).