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WNBA Botches Caitlin Clark's Record-Setting Assist Total in Praise Attempt

The WNBA fumbled an attempt to show respect to Caitlin Clark's passing success on Friday.

Grant Young

Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) receives a technical foul during the second quarter during game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images
Sep 22, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) receives a technical foul during the second quarter during game one of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark Smith-Imagn Images / Mark Smith-Imagn Images

Just about everybody in the women's basketball community was well aware of Caitlin Clark's sharpshooting abilities once she entered the WNBA. However, the Indiana Fever superstar surprised many with her passing prowess.

This generational passing ability is proven by Clark breaking the WNBA single-season record for assists in 2024, with 337.

The WNBA tried to acknowledge this history from Clark with an X post on Friday — but they got her assists tally wrong.

"The Indiana Fever floor general, Caitlin Clark made wonders happen with the ball in her hands 🏀

"Clark notched the single-season assists record with 321 total dimes, as well set the all-time single-game assist record against the Dallas Wings with 19," the post wrote.

For what it's worth, Clark broke the single-season assists record (which was previously 316) in a September 13 game against the Las Vegas Aces. She finished that game with 321 assists on the season, which is likely where the WNBA got their tally of 321.

But Clark's rookie regular season didn't end there. She played two more regular season games after that, notching 8 assists in each one to increase her total to 337.

Therefore, the WNBA's post is factually incorrect, since her "total dimes" was 337, not 321.

And fans are making note of this on social media.

"she had 337 assists in her rookie season, not 321," one X user wrote.

Another X user added, "the amount of things this account gets wrong daily is staggering. Caitlin has 337 assists. How hard is it to look up stats on your own page".

The WNBA getting this objectively simple statistic to fact-check incorrect is not a good look.

Published
Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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