Doug GreenbergMay 2, 2025, 11:11 AM ET
Indiana Fever superstar Caitlin Clark is currently the favorite to win the 2025 WNBA Most Valuable Player award, while No. 1 overall pick Paige Bueckers has the best odds to win Rookie of the Year.
Given her tremendous college career and record-setting rookie year, it's not a huge surprise that the 23-year-old will be contending for the league's highest individual honor in just her second season -- but it's her immense popularity with the betting public that truly pushed her to favorite status.
Clark is the +200 favorite to win WNBA MVP after opening at +300, according to ESPN BET odds. Three-time and reigning MVP A'ja Wilson is +235 after opening at +180, while 2024 MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier checks in at +400 following an opener of +565.
Clark's move to the top position was, in part, a result of massive betting action behind her: Several major sportsbooks report at least 50% of tickets supporting her MVP campaign and a lot of the bigger money is also buying in, with ESPN BET topping out at 77.7% of its MVP handle share backing the Iowa Hawkeyes legend.
It's the culmination of years of ardent fan support, which sportsbooks have grown accustomed to and prepared for.
"The thing about Clark is that she just draws a lot of money no matter what [odds] we put her up at," DraftKings sportsbook director Johnny Avello told ESPN. "She's not some big underdog, her odds are low, so I don't think we're going to get hurt too bad [if she ends up winning]."
Avello acknowledges that the sportsbook's Clark liability could increase as the season goes on and the pot gets larger. Where he and other bookmakers are more concerned is the growing hazard on the Fever as a whole, with ESPN BET director of North American sports trading Adrian Horton previously calling them the book's "biggest liability by a wide margin."
Indiana's ascendency after a big offseason that saw them acquire key player DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard, among others, could also help Clark's MVP case.
"A'ja Wilson's team won so many games more than the Fever and Clark, so then she gets MVP. I think this year it's just going to be relatively close in the standings, which helps Clark's case," Caesars Sportsbook pro basketball lead David Lieberman told ESPN. "They're expected to be a top-three team in the league, which gives Clark a perfectly good opportunity to snag the MVP."
Since 2022, when Wilson won her first MVP, the preseason favorite has gone on to win the award every season; Clark would have the second-shortest odds to win, after Wilson went off at +100 last year, over that span, according to ESPN Research.
Clark won 2024's Rookie of the Year after entering the campaign with astoundingly short -750 odds. The 2025 favorite is significantly longer than that, but is still odds-on, as Dallas Wings first-year player Bueckers shows -225 at ESPN BET.
As short as that is, she would actually be the longest winner in at least three seasons after Clark's Fever teammate Aliyah Boston entered the fray and cashed at -250 in 2023. Additionally, the last three Rookies of the Year, when adding in the Atlanta Dream's Rhyne Howard, have all been first overall draft selections.
While it's not quite as fervent as the support Clark always seems to receive, Bueckers has gotten robust backing at several sportsbooks, with both Caesars and DraftKings reporting heavy action on her.
"The bettors know Bueckers and so that's who they're isolating on as the season starts and goes on," said Avello "I think some of the money may shift, but at this point it's been all Bueckers."
One player who could provide a real challenge to Bueckers is second overall draft pick Dominique Malonga of the Seattle Storm, who shows +450 odds at ESPN BET. Malonga's unique combination of size, skill and professional experience in her native France make her an intriguing flier for many bettors, as ESPN BET reports 44.4% of bets and a huge 70.9% of handle backing her for Rookie of the Year.
"It's a wild card," Lieberman said. "Obviously, we know what we're getting from Bueckers, she's going to score a ton of points, but maybe Malonga will put up absurd rebound numbers and blocks and stuff like that to inch her a lot closer to Bueckers in the Rookie of the Year race than maybe people were expecting."
Lieberman clarifies that, although Chicago Sky star Angel Reese made the 2024 race competitive with excellent defensive metrics, he believes that Clark's all-around performance put her over the top. It remains to be seen how that will play out between the top two candidates in 2025.
