Caitlin Clark chronicles her rise from empty arenas to electrifying fans

Caitlin Clark has been the driving force for the WNBA's biggest shift of attention in league history. As she entered the league, so did the eyes of millions of fans from across the world, turning women's basketball into must-see entertainment.

Clark's entrance into the WNBA was unprecedented, as no other women's basketball player has captivated more fans and brought more attention to the sport. In her first season as a pro, she showed the ability to perform on the biggest stage and shattered numerous WNBA records en route winning the Rookie of the Year award.

After a memorable year, from her senior season at the University of Iowa to her historic rookie campaign in the WNBA, Clark detailed her journey from playing in empty arenas due to COVID-19 restrictions in college to breaking attendance records in the WNBA, in an interview with TIME Magazine:

"When I first got to college it was COVID. And, you know, I played in front of absolutely nobody other than like family and friends.

"In my second year, there were fans there, but the end of my junior year is kind of when it began to take off. I feel like that's when people really started to, not only love Iowa women's basketball, but love women's basketball even more than they already did."

By the end of her junior season, Caitlin Clark was already the best player in college basketball, winning her first AP Player of the Year award.

"Once we knew every single game was going to be sold out, I was kind of like, 'Oh my gosh,' and I thought that would only be at home, but even on the road, tickets were sometimes even harder to come by," she added.

"So, I didn't really know how that would translate to the (WNBA). Once I decided to leave college, I thought the crowds would still be amazing, but I didn't know exactly how it would translate, and it was basically just the same thing (as college)."

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Caitlin Clark wins TIME Athlete of the Year

On Tuesday afternoon, TIME announced Caitlin Clark as the winner of the 2024 Athlete of the Year award after a record-breaking year on and off the basketball court. In her rookie WNBA season, the league saw a 48% jump in attendance from 2023. The league's total attendance of 2,353,735 was the highest in 22 seasons.

Clark also helped set numerous viewership records, including the most-watched WNBA game in league history on ABC. The Indiana Fever took on the Seattle Storm on Aug. 18, drawing 2.23 million viewers to the broadcast.

Caitlin Clark also lived up to arguably the greatest expectations in WNBA history. She rewrote the record books and broke the WNBA single-season assist record en route winning the ROTY, earning first-team All-WNBA honors and making her first All-Star appearance.