Fans of WNBA superstar Caitlin Clark were left furious as her on-court rival, Paige Bueckers, received a different treatment for being named the league’s rookie of the year.
Clark was bestowed the honor in 2024 and received a call from WNBA Commissioner Cathy Englebert, which she took on speaker during an Indiana Fever practice.
Bueckers got a more lavish arrangement for finding out she was this year’s top rookie, as Englebert was waiting for her at the end of the viral ‘Spirit Tunnel’ as part of her appearance on ‘The Jennifer Hudson Show’.
Hudson’s staffers serenade a celebrity guest to the stage with individualized lyrics. At the end of Bueckers’ tunnel, Englebert was waiting in person to present the trophy.
Some have claimed that due to the Fever being in the postseason last year, and the Dallas Wings missing the cut in 2025, Englebert was able to not be a distraction.
Yet, fans of Clark have seen Englebert’s actions as another sign of disrespect towards the WNBA’s game changer.
WNBA fans are upset with Commissioner Cathy Englebert for how she is treating Caitlin Clark
Englebert presented the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award to Paige Buckers in person Tuesday
‘This is how u announce rookie of the year Caitlin Clark got her roy announcement on a phone call last season. Has a league ever treated their biggest star worse than Caitlin Clark got treated?’ one fan said on social media.
‘I don’t care if they were in the playoffs or not…nasty business how they handled this last year,’ a second Clark supporter stated.
‘Cathy didn’t even FaceTime Caitlin last year.. just a team call on speaker wow,’ a third continued.
‘WNBA commish Cathy Englebert with two vastly different ways to announce the ROY winner,’ a fourth added.
‘Yeah. This isn’t ok. Last year this idea of not giving Caitlin too much shine was insane and highly disappointing. This is not a knock on Paige,’ a fifth concluded, also adding in the difference in designs of the merchandise associated with the award winner.
A collection of messages about disrespecting Caitlin Clark compared to Paige Bueckers
Clark, by one vote, was a more dominant rookie of the year, as she received 66 of the 67 votes for the award. Bueckers only received 65, with Washington Mystics star Sonia Citron getting the other two this year.
Bueckers becomes the fourth straight No 1 overall selection in the WNBA Draft to win rookie of the year, dating back to Rhyne Howard in 2022.
Clark’s sophomore year did not go as planned, as she missed most of it with multiple injuries.
Even in her absence, Fever fans have had more to look forward to, including Tuesday night’s playoff victory over the Atlanta Dream, the franchise’s first postseason win since 2015.
