After finishing her historic college career and impressive rookie season, Caitlin Clark received multiple awards in 2024. Despite the recognition she received, an analyst expressed displeasure over her recent snub.
Earlier on Thursday, Sports Illustrated announced its Sportsperson of the Year for 2024, choosing Olympic gymnast Simone Biles. Biles had a stellar performance at the Summer Olympics, winning three gold medals for the United States.
Jason Whitlock took to social media to voice his disagreement with the decision, arguing that Caitlin Clark should have been chosen over the Olympic champion. He believed that Biles’s success was limited to two weeks on the world stage, while Clark and others competed throughout the year.
“This is a joke. She was relevant for 2 weeks this summer. Caitlin Clark and Shohei Ohtani were relevant for months.”
While Whitlock’s argument has validity, other considerations must be taken into account. Biles may have only competed for a short period, but it was on the biggest stage in sports, where she excelled in every event.
Although Clark didn’t win this particular accolade, she was recognized by Time Magazine as the Athlete of the Year for 2024.
Caitlin Clark discusses her favorite achievement on podcast with Jason and Travis Kelce
While winning the Sports Illustrated honor would have been a significant accomplishment for Clark, she has garnered recognition in other ways. In a recent podcast appearance on New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce, the WNBA rising star revealed her most esteemed achievement.
During the podcast, Clark was asked about her favorite achievement, to which she mentioned being an academic All-American at Iowa, but ultimately chose winning Time’s Athlete of the Year.
“The Time Athlete of the Year was cool too,” Clark remarked. “Just because you see the list of all the athletes they had prior to me. A lot of those people I idolized growing up. LeBron’s been the only other basketball player.”
With her current trajectory, Clark is likely to receive many more accolades in the future.
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Edited by Kevin McCormick
