In the first round of this year’s WNBA playoffs, the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx matched up with the New York Liberty in a rematch of the 2024 Finals which the Lib won.
Not only did the Liberty sweep the Lynx, but the Liberty were also, by far and away, the better team throughout that series. The Minnesota team that we saw for much of the season – particularly prior to the FIBA World Cup break – was not the same Lynx team we saw post-Berlin.
Even though Olivia Miles put together one of the best rookie seasons in W history en route to a Rookie of the Year award, Miles looked like a rookie under Brooklyn’s bright lights.
The main question facing the Lynx is convincing Napheesa Collier to return to the team. Even if that attempt by Cheryl Reeve and the Minnesota front office goes awry, they have Miles to build around for the foreseeable future.
Minnesota may not be the team with the murkiest future. That could belong to the Indiana Fever.
Entering the 2026 season, the aim for coach Stephanie White’s Fever had to be to qualify for the Finals after a semifinals run last season. Instead, the Fever – again – ran into the buzzsaw that is the defending champion Las Vegas Aces en route to being eliminated from the first round of this year’s playoffs.
Unfortunately, the Fever have become a story as much for basketball reasons as the franchise has been for reasons that have nothing to do with hoops. Confrontations between Fever “fans” and other WNBA players have been on the increase ever since the drafting of Caitlin Clark in 2024.
The most recent of this was a confrontation between a fan and A’ja Wilson which took place during Game 2 of the recently completed first-round get-together between the Fever and Aces. Let us also remember the Jackie Young incident from earlier this season.
This has become the unfortunate reality not only with playing the Fever but even wearing an Indiana uniform as Kelsey Mitchell does.
Mitchell has worn an Indiana Fever uniform throughout her entire WNBA career and recently made a few eye-opening comments during her exit press conference that shine a light on the realities of the franchise today.
She mentioned having to do what is best for her and her family, playing in front of fans that may or may not like her and the idea of being a bit “selfish” when deciding on her future.
Compare and contrast these remarks with those made by general manager Amber Cox where she basically defended Fever fans against the allegations of abuse, harassment and racism that have been leveled against these individuals by players.
Cox – a former executive at the Connecticut Sun and Dallas Wings – knows better. The reality is that Cox – along with the rest of the Fever organization – is so far in the forest of money the Fever have made over the last three years that she cannot see the trees.
She has to know that Mitchell’s comments at her press conference hint at a stark reality facing the franchise – convincing free agents (especially Black free agents) to wear a Fever uniform.
What makes this even more jarring is the Fever – from an organizational perspective – are doing things such as investing in a practice facility that should make it an attractive destination for free agents. But the Fever fandom being infected with these online (and in-person) locusts have become such a story throughout the WNBA that many a free agent could decide Indiana is simply not worth it.
When Cox said what she said, Brianna Turner responded on social media by claiming that complaints have been made by players both inside and outside of the Fever organization regarding the increased toxicity of the team’s fanbase.
That toxicity does not help when a team has someone such as Sophie Cunningham on said team considering her remarks earlier in the season regarding transgender athletes. At several Fever road games this season, rallies were held in support of Cunningham, making the Fever more of a traveling political circus than a basketball team.
Cunningham has become a public relations issue in itself – and her lack of on-court production makes her even more of an albatross for any team that even thinks about taking a chance on her. Cox says that her off-court issues will not have any bearing on if the Fever decide not to bring Cunningham back, but her issues are every bit on-court as they are off-court.
She may not exactly be a franchise cornerstone – but Mitchell is. She is supposed to be part of the big three (her, Clark and Aliyah Boston) that should win the Fever its first championship since Tamika Catchings brought Finals hardware to Indy in 2012. Even when the Fever’s social media accounts hype up other players that are not Clark, these accounts are met with a horde of trolls accusing the organization of attempting to sabotage Clark.
We must reiterate that none of this is Clark’s fault – and the only way that the organization could convince free agents to want to give Indiana a try is by offering a lot of money to said free agents. But even this may not be enough if it is going to be at the expense of their mental health.
Free agents vividly remember the 2024 playoffs when the Fever were swept by the Sun. They remember vividly when DiJonai Carrington was engulfed in a horde of these locusts because she poked Clark in the eye. Racist taunts and memes about Carrington’s fingernails ensued.
Free agents also remember that same year when several Chicago Sky players – most notably Angel Reese and Chennedy Carter – were dealing with a sea of racism because of its games against the Fever.
Free agents also remember the incident from earlier this year between Clark and Alyssa Thomas which resulted in a flagrant 2 foul and a one-game suspension. They also remember what ensued after it – more online hate. So much for the W’s “No Space For Hate” campaign.
When the Fever drafted Clark in 2024 with the first overall pick, it was supposed to be a building block towards a potential dynasty. It may still be, but the comparison that many have made is between Clark and Wilson considering Clark is being anointed as the new “face of the WNBA.”
Wilson qualified for her first Finals (and won her first league MVP award) in her third season. The Fever are 1-4 in the postseason with Clark healthy. And that is a trend that will continue if premier free agents decide that the environment in Indiana is too radioactive. Remember – Indiana was within a few plays of qualifying for the Finals last season with no Clark.
Free agents are vetting organizations heavily when making decisions on where to sign. Remember when the Liberty were disciplined heavily by the WNBA before chartering planes when it was against the rules to do so? This backfired heavily on the league because it made New York a more attractive destination for free agents – resulting in the Liberty winning its first championship in franchise history in 2024.
Indiana’s brass is likely of the mindset that having the opportunity to play alongside Clark will make the Fever a more desirable destination for free agents. Clark is not the problem – it is the toxic environment that surrounds Clark that could keep free agents away from the Hoosier State.
What if – one by one – Black player after Black player decides that wearing a Fever uniform is too much and bolts for greener pastures the first chance they get. This already happened with DeWanna Bonner who departed from the Fever around the midpoint of last season to return to the Phoenix Mercury and now is part of the Atlanta Dream’s winning postseason formula.
The Fever brass have the right idea when it comes to building a nucleus that can win a championship. They understand that Clark is great, but she cannot do it alone – no superstar can. Wilson needed Chelsea Gray, Jackie Young, Jewell Loyd and – at one point – Kelsey Plum. Maya Moore – the inspiration for Clark to start dribbling a leather ball – needed Rebekkah Brunson, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen and Sylvia Fowles among others.
But the Aces do not have the fan problems that could have the Fever stuck in basketball quicksand – nor did those 2010s Lynx teams. Clark and Boston are the young stars and Mitchell is the seasoned veteran that can offer guidance as said young stars rise up the W’s ranks.
The scary thing about these locusts is they more than likely do not care because they want Clark to either leave the WNBA for another league – or start her own. Many of them also have either laptop computers or podcast microphones – and they know who they are.
So many of these locusts – who were called out by head coach Stephanie White earlier this season following the Thomas incident – claim to be Clark fans. The question they need to ask themselves is if Black free agent after Black free agent decides to say no to Indiana are they really the ones that are preventing Clark from achieving what she truly can achieve in the WNBA.
Indianapolis is already much-maligned for not having the glamour and attractiveness of its peer W cities. Signing with a team not only means representing said team and franchise on the court but also enjoying said time away from the court in said city. Can players truly enjoy their time in Indiana if they have to deal with these locusts who only discovered in mid-April of 2024 that there was such a thing as the Indiana Fever?
This is a unique position for a franchise. A sometimes-debated topic on social media is if fans should identify themselves as “we” when referring to their favorite team. In the case of the locusts that have infected the Fever’s fanbase, this may not be truer.
