Caitlin Clark recorded her fourth career triple-double in the Indiana Fever‘s blowout win over the Portland Fire on Friday. Her explosive performance has boosted her chances of winning this year’s WNBA MVP award.
Following the 26-10-10 stat line posted by Clark, betting sites like FanDuel ranked the Fever star No. 2 in the MVP race. In the process, Clark overtook Paige Bueckers, who has been having a stellar season with the Dallas Wings.
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Clark is at +1000, tied with Olivia Miles. Bueckers is at +1300.
Leading the race is A’ja Wilson (-475), the reigning MVP who has won the award a record-setting four times.
Wilson’s numbers (26.8 ppg on 53.2% FG shooting, 9.8 rpg, 2.0 bpg) are on an entirely different tier, but Clark has been stuffing the stat sheets as well. This season, the three-time WNBA All-Star is second in assists (8.0 apg) and fourth in scoring (21.6 ppg) while shooting a career-high 44.6% from the field.
Though Bueckers is eighth in both points and assists (20.8 ppg, 6.0 apg), she has shot more efficiently than Clark, converting on 51.3% of her field goal attempts.
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Even in terms of team standings, Clark and Bueckers are neck and neck. Thanks to a five-game winning streak, the Fever (19-10) have climbed to the No. 4 spot while the sixth-place Wings (18-11) have some ground to cover as they look to halt a two-game skid.
For WNBA analyst Robin Lundberg, Caitlin Clark simply cannot be overlooked in the WNBA MVP race.
In a video posted on YouTube on Saturday, Lundberg presented Clark’s MVP case.
“Let’s call her Compelling Argument Clark, because she is starting to put together a compelling argument for league MVP. Caitlin Clark is playing at a higher level than any other player in the WNBA. She’s now hitting those deep threes consistently, and the Fever have the best offense in league history with her at the helm.”
