There's no getting around it: Indiana Fever fans are about to meet a brand new team.
Of course, there are several players from last year returning: Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, Kristy Wallace, and Damaris Dantas are all back. The team has also signed DaWanna Bonner and Sydney Colson (to tremendous excitement) as well as Sophie Cunningham, Natasha Howard, Jaelyn Brown, and Brianna Turner. And back in November, the team announced Stephanie White had been hired as head coach following the dismal of Christy Sides.
With all these transactions and moves, the Fever are already showing they're serious about going as far as they can in 2025, and there is one relationship that will be key to ensuring the team's viability: the relationship between White and Clark.
Caitlin Clark is about to have a major season this year
Clark is, of course, heading into her second year in the WNBA, though it's unlikely she will get any reprieve from the intense fan and social media speculation and scrutiny that was a hallmark of her rookie year. What's also likely is that she will become even more focused and even more capable of tuning out all of the noise and locking in.
White said as much in an interview with Sports Illustrated this week. Clark is "stronger, first and foremost," she explained. "She’s got a lot of self-awareness. She figured out right away that I need to get stronger, I can’t get knocked around as much. She’s done a great job of getting in the weight room and focusing on her strength, in terms of low center of gravity, time under tension, all of those things. I think the next step is efficiency. Not so many turnovers, higher field goal percentages."
How Stephanie White will maximize Caitlin Clark's abilities
In a lot of ways, White is the perfect coach for Clark. Both are Midwest natives, and the Fever is White's team — she played in Indiana for four years and previously coached the team for another five. The duo will need to tackle a few key pieces of Clark's game, including her efficiency, especially in terms of turnovers and assists, and her defensive skills.
Defense has to be at the forefront of the Fever's restructuring and planning this year. That's where Bonner in particular, with her defensive prowess and scoring ability, will be such an asset to Clark and the team as a whole. Bonner is also a proficient lane disrupter, and that will make it difficult for opposing guards to get the ball where they want it to be — all music to the Fever's ears.
White will also develop Clark offensively. As a college player, Clark was often put in a position to essentially play like Chris Paul or Russell Westbrook — her initial pass would turn into an assist. But for Clark to continue to develop in the league, she needs to allow other teammates to create the assist, which will open the door for her to play off the ball (and to even catch a breath during a game). Clark's style is predominantly assist or bucket-driven, but White will give her the chance to develop into an overall threat.