From Iowa to Indiana and now to New York, Caitlin Clark is a national superstar! After winning the WNBA Rookie of the Year award, in lieu of one of the best basketball rookie seasons ever and all kinds of broken records, the honors keep rolling in for CC. From being recognized as TIME’s Athlete of the Year to being named on Forbes’ 100 Most Powerful Women as well as Sports Business Journal’s Most Influential People In Sports Business list, the Indiana Fever guard has a new feather to add to her cap.
In his recap of 2024, TV host Jimmy Fallon just name-dropped Clark! From farewell to the Eras Tour to ‘very mindful, very demure,’ there’s also space for the Iowa sensation. “Caitlin Clark’s a total GOAT,” the host sings on The Tonight Show With Jimmy Fallon.
Given the amount of records she’s broken and the sheer natural phenomenon she turned into, Clark deserved to make it to the yearly recap. The logo threes already had viewers wanting more, and then she became the leading NCAA scorer in both men’s and women’s college basketball. Then CC continued the trend as a pro.
The most points by a rookie (769), the most assists by a rookie (337), the most double-doubles by a rookie guard (14), the most three-pointers (122), and the first rookie to ever record a triple-double in WNBA history – these are just some of the stats. And it was not even the first time No. 22’s name was evoked on the show.
Ex-Warriors Star shields Caitlin Clark as WNBA’s “golden goose” faces backlash again
When NFL legend Deion Sanders made an appearance on Jimmy Fallon in March, when Clark was making another run for the NCAA title with Iowa, Sanders had one piece of advice for her. “We coming down the homestretch. This is gonna be your last dance. And guess what? I don’t care what they say about the WNBA, but I know what you’re capable of. I need you to go out there and lead like you’ve never led before. I need you to dominate like you’ve never dominated before. And unapologetically, girl, I need you to be you!”
Iowa ended up losing the championship to undefeated South Carolina but Clark’s reputation as a sensation had already been set. Enough for her to receive praise from not one but two sports legends! In yet another discussion about the Rookie of the Year, Sue Bird also had positive things to say to Fallon about CC.
On International Women’s Day this year in March, Jimmy Fallon invited former WNBA player Sue Bird on The Tonight Show to discuss women’s sports. Quite fittingly, the former Seattle Storm star brought a gift t-shirt for the host and his daughters that read, “Everyone watches women’s sports.” It was an item from her media company Togethxr, which discussed certain fans on social media claiming the opposite.
Coming to Clark, Bid couldn’t help but gush, “Her game speaks for itself. I think my favorite part is just women’s basketball — women’s sports, really, but women’s basketball — has been on the rise. And it’s kind of like what Magic and Bird was to men’s basketball, like this moment. We kind of needed something. And Caitlin’s that moment.”
Bird has also spoken about how Clark has ignited the blaze that was already the WNBA and poured gasoline on it. While some claim that men’s basketball is better than women’s because they don’t dunk, well, as Bird says, “You can’t really talk trash on a logo three.”
