The Caitlin Clark effect is still alive in the WNBA and for sportsbooks. [Image: Flickr.com / John Mac]

A strong first impression

Caitlin Clark might be plagued by the same fatigue that prevented Michael Jordan, LeBron James, and Tom Brady from winning the MVP every year they were in the league, but her momentum is still alive and well.

bearing down on the league’s rookie assist record

The Indiana Fever’s star rookie is a -1050 favorite to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year, ahead of the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese (+600). She’s also bearing down on the league’s rookie assist record and has led her team to the projected seventh seed, meaning they would be in the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

Clark’s omission from the Team USA Women’s Olympic Basketball team will mostly keep her out of the spotlight for the next few weeks, but don’t be fooled: she’s only getting started.

Carrying the mantle 

The 22-year-old Clark has averaged 16.8 points, 7.8 assists, and 5.8 rebounds while playing all 25 games. Her jump shooting efficiency hasn’t been there (just 33.2 percent from three), but she’s been tasked with handling an enormous usage rate in her first professional season.

The former Iowa star has also faced a tough path thus far. Many of her competitors played her with over-the-top physicality and aggression to show they wouldn’t just hand the league over to her.

first triple-double by a rookie in WNBA history

Despite that, Clark has shone. She scored 30 points twice and recorded double-digit assists in five of her last six games, one of which was part of the first triple-double by a rookie in WNBA history (19 points, 13 assists, 12 rebounds).

While some of the Clark headlines aren’t as groundbreaking as they were when she first broke onto the national scene, She’s still having a tremendous impact on the WNBA and in Indiana.

The Indiana Gaming Commission reported $30.5m in adjusted gross gaming revenue during June, a near-57% increase on the amount recorded at the same time a year ago. The $298.2m handle was also a 33% year-over-year increase.

Optimove Insights also found that betting participation spiked 380% during games involving the Fever over average WNBA games. This follows the same precedent Clark set during her college days, when she and her competitors regularly smashed viewership and betting records during March Madness.

Can Caitlin Clark win WNBA MVP?

Individual accolades can earn players their “superstar” status, but only those with championships are immortalized.

Clark’s Fever, one of the worst teams in recent NBA history, entered the year with the fifth-best odds to win the WNBA Finals at +2300, per FanDuel sportsbook. They’ve fallen to seventh at +12000, giving them an implied chance of .83 percent.

Caitlin Clark herself opened at +2100 to win the MVP before a horde of public bets pushed her to third at +1000, behind only A’ja Wilson (+115) and Breanna Stewart (+550) and still before she played a single game.

Wilson seemingly has her third MVP already locked up with -850 odds

The young guard is down to +10000 in MVP odds, tied for the eighth-best in the league. Meanwhile, Wilson seemingly has her third MVP already locked up with -850 odds.

The Fever will play on Wednesday before they get a month off because of the Olympics. That time could prove to be invaluable for Clark, who is in dire need of a reprieve from the beating she’s taken in most games and who also hasn’t had a real rest since before her senior year of college.