Indiana Fever: WNBA title contenders with Clark and Boston?

The Indiana Fever’s Championship Aspirations in the WNBA: An In-Depth Analysis

In a weekend marked by the qualification for the Indianapolis 500 and the Pacers’ preparation for the Eastern Conference finals, the start of the WNBA’s Indiana Fever season grabbed all the attention. With the aim of transcending, the team seeks to establish itself as a serious contender. Last season, Caitlin Clark revolutionized the WNBA, helping the Fever break a seven-year playoff drought. After an aggressive preseason focused on reinforcing the star power of Clark and Aliyah Boston, the Fever began 2025 with even greater ambitions.

My expectation is that we try to win a championship. But when I go out on the court, I don’t think about that. I think about what we can do in each possession to win the game.

Caitlin Clark

The Fever crushed the Chicago Sky with a score of 93-58, where Clark achieved a triple-double. Led by Stephanie White, in her second stint as coach, the team had a perfect start to the season. A week later, they took the defending champion, the New York Liberty, to the last seconds before falling 90-88. The game validated the team’s championship aspirations and the renewal of the squad.

However, things quickly got complicated. Clark, the first pick of the 2024 draft and WNBA Rookie of the Year, was sidelined on May 26 with a left quadriceps strain, missing games for the first time in her professional and college career. The Fever has an overall record of 4-5, 2-3 without her. They are expecting her return on Saturday.

Since the beginning of the season, Steph has told us that things won’t be perfect and that not everything will go as we think. You have to be ready to face whatever happens.

Aliyah Boston

With Clark on the court, the Fever looked like a contender. However, the ups and downs of Indiana’s first month also show the difficulty of translating potential into a trophy. Even with consecutive number 1 picks, Boston and Clark, the championship window is more immediate than one might think. In Clark, the Fever has one of the country’s most popular athletes, a player with the skill and charisma to generate constant attention that has spread to the entire organization. The Fever has tried to surround her as quickly as possible with the right cast. The Fever were once a perennial playoff team, reaching 12 consecutive postseasons from 2005 to 2016 and winning the WNBA title in 2012. In 2022, they won five games, their worst record, as their playoff drought continued. But with the first pick in the 2023 draft, Indiana selected Boston, who then won the Rookie of the Year award. Now, despite how young their stars are, the Fever is against the clock. Some professional sports teams ascend to the top with long builds, but a common mindset among owners and front offices now is to take risks when the opportunity presents itself. The Fever’s 20-20 record in 2024 proved that their championship window was open. For 2025, a revamped team arrived: coach, general manager, and president. They prioritized the return of the Fever’s most veteran player, free agent guard Kelsey Mitchell. For offseason additions, the Fever focused on players with extensive playoff experience: forwards DeWanna Bonner and Natasha Howard, and guards Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson.

Last year, our goal was to return to the playoffs. This year, our front office made a lot of really great changes to be able to put together this roster and build a team that can win now, if we do everything the right way.

Caitlin Clark

Howard was the Fever’s fifth pick in the 2014 draft; she spent two seasons in Indiana, including participation in the 2015 WNBA Finals. Since then, she has played for Minnesota, Seattle, New York, and Dallas, winning championships with the Lynx (2017) and Storm (2018, 2020). The Fever’s past faces are everywhere in Gainbridge Fieldhouse, as if the good vibes of the franchise’s best days are channeled into the present. White, who coached the Sun in 2023 and 2024, is back where she spent 11 years as a player and coach. Team president Kelly Krauskopf was the Fever’s original general manager when the franchise launched in 2000. She left to be assistant general manager of the Pacers in 2018 and has now returned.

Before Clark was sidelined by injury, the Fever had a 2-2 record and lost those games by a total of three points. Then, Clark got injured. Without her, the Fever lost consecutive games against Washington and Connecticut, two teams that were not projected to be in the playoffs this season. And more injuries followed. Cunningham has been limited to four games due to an ankle injury. And in that late May loss to the Sun, Colson left with a leg injury, leaving the Fever with eight players for the rest of the game and with their fourth point guard option. During her absence due to injury, Clark has been an enthusiastic “assistant coach”. Boston and Clark meshed as a post-guard duo last season, a connection that has only deepened. They are eager to be back together on the court, but they know that adversity is part of the journey.

Not everything is going to be perfect in a season. You have to be realistic about that. Whoever is ready and healthy and can compete, you just have to go with that.

Aliyah Boston

Mitchell believes in what the Fever are doing now, but he doesn’t sugarcoat things either. After Indiana’s home loss to Atlanta, he was blunt in the post-game press conference. The offense has been the Fever’s strongest point since Clark joined the team. Her ability to run the offense at a fast pace was quickly elite in her professional career. The Fever needs to improve defensively, especially compared to last season, when it had the second-worst defensive rating in the league. January, who is in charge of the Fever’s defense, was an outstanding defensive player who brings that to her coaching. Perhaps that’s the best way to look at the Fever’s season so far. At times, they’ve played so well that it’s understandable why there’s so much excitement about them. Other times, the flaws have been on display.

We are preparing for September and October. If we can get through this now to prepare for that, it’s good. There are times when it’s not fun, but we are all willing to stay in it, to stay focused and just understand that it’s part of the process.

Lexie Hull