Charles Barkley pinpoints exact moment Caitlin Clark won Rookie of the Year honor

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark has had a whirlwind of a 2024 , highlighted by her reaching the NCAA Championship game , becoming the first pick in the WNBA draft , and most recently becoming the first rookie ever to win WNBA Player of the Month .

Clark has hardly had time to breathe between these major life events, all of which have occurred in the last six months. She's still managed to firmly supplant herself as the favorite for WNBA Rookie of the Year by averaging 18.7 points, a league-best 8.4 assists, 5.6 rebounds, and 1.4 steals per game.

However, there's one honor Clark didn't add to her ledger this year: Olympic gold medalist. She was notably omitted by Team USA for the Paris games as America opted for a more experienced roster. Former NBA MVP Charles Barkley pinpointed Clark's exclusion from the Olympic team as the moment her WNBA season took off.

• There's no debate over WNBA Rookie of the Year award - and Angel Reese knows it
• Rickea Jackson signs up for Unrivaled League amid glaring WNBA rookie problem

“I'll tell you what really good happened to her, not making the Olympic team," Barkley said during a recent appearance on the Bill Simmons Podcast.

"Giving her that time off has given her a chance to recharge her batteries. She probably did deserve to make the Olympic team on merit, but her getting that time off probably was the best thing that happened to her."

The Olympics allowed Clark her first rest in ages after a breakneck year. She appeared for Iowa in the NCAA Championship game on April 7 before being selected by the Indiana Fever with the first pick in the WNBA Draft on April 16.

The Fever started their 2024 season less than a month later on May 14. After two months of professional action, Clark didn't play between the WNBA All-Star game on July 20 and the Fever's first game back on August 16

"I think it'll be really good for myself and my body," Clark said about the time off. "You're getting close to a full year of just playing basketball nonstop. So it'll probably be a little weird for me not playing games. But I think it's definitely going to be good for my body."

"She's going to get a breather and get some rest. I think it's just great," said Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides said. "She's just been going so hard for quite some time now. I think it's going to help her so much just to kind of decompress."

Clark had the opportunity to play in the league's three-point contest at All-Star weekend but declined. "I think just rest," Clark said when asked why she turned it down. "I've been playing basketball for a year straight, and it's not an easy thing to just show up and shoot off a rack."

Clark now has the Fever at 17-16 and in the sixth spot in the WNBA standings , having gone 6-1 since the league returned from its Olympic hiatus.