Wednesday night’s ESPY Awards ceremony at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles brought validation for Caitlin Clark’s incredible rookie season. The Indiana Fever superstar claimed the 2025 ESPY award for best WNBA player, beating out some of the league’s most established stars.
But Clark wasn’t there to accept it, sidelined by the same injury struggles that have defined her second season.
Caitlin Clark Wins 2025 Best WNBA Player ESPY
Clark’s award was presented during ESPN’s red carpet coverage of Wednesday’s gala event. The WNBA superstar couldn’t attend the ceremony because she was traveling with the Indiana Fever for their game against the New York Liberty. ESPN host Christine Williamson announced that the guard had won the award and accepted it on Clark’s behalf.
The competition was fierce. Clark faced off against A’ja Wilson, the two-time winner in this category in 2023 and 2024, from the Las Vegas Aces, Breanna Stewart from the New York Liberty, and Napheesa Collier from the Minnesota Lynx.
Meanwhile, other major winners included recently crowned NBA champion Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, who won the Best Athlete, Men’s Sports award, and seven-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles, who took home two ESPYs: Best Athlete, Women’s Sports and Best Championship Performance.
When asked about what stood out among Clark’s achievements in the last year, women’s sports analyst Ari Chambers said, “I see just exponential growth of the game. She brings eyes to the game so that the next generation can come out and thrive. She is a dynamic player, exciting to watch. Her villain origin story has started, and she loves to play into it, and the fans eat it right up.”
The ESPY’s @WNBA Player of the Year 🤩
congrats, Caitlin Clark 👏 pic.twitter.com/x1ch6l9c2y
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) July 17, 2025
While Clark has struggled with injuries this season, she was a star in her rookie year, receiving 66 of the 67 votes that were cast by the national media to win a near-unanimous Rookie of the Year award.
Clark became the first rookie after Candace Parker (2008) to make it to the All-WNBA first team. These awards came on the back of a historic season where she scored 769 points, the most by an Indiana Fever player in a single season and the most by a point guard in the league’s history.
She also broke the single-season WNBA assists record with 337.
Her other historic achievements included becoming the first Indiana Fever player and first rookie in WNBA history to have a triple-double. She also holds the all-time single-game record in the league with 19 assists, which she recorded against the Dallas Wings on July 17, 2024.
MORE: Caitlin Clark Suffers Massive Fall in ESPN’s WNBA Rankings After Fever Star’s Recent Struggles
Despite being widely acknowledged as one of the biggest superstars in the WNBA, Clark has missed quite a few games this season due to injuries. She has also been going through a shooting slump and has not been at her best lately.
The Fever guard missed Wednesday night’s clash against the New York Liberty due to a right groin injury, which she suffered on Tuesday.