The WNBA is a very what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league, and never has that been more apparent than in the results of the preseason GM survey. Last year, when asked to pick any player in the league to build a franchise around, 50% of league executives picked Caitlin Clark. This year, only 20% chose Clark. Instead, last year’s No. 1 pick and Rookie of the Year, Paige Bueckers, got the nod.
Of course, this snub — if you can even call it that, given Bueckers’ talent — isn’t so much an indictment of Clark’s ability as it is an indication of recency bias. Clark had a historic rookie season, but last year injuries sidelined the Indiana Fever superstar for all but 13 games.
She had to sit on the sidelines while her city hosted the All-Star game. She had to sit on the sidelines while her team had its first winning season since 2015, won its first playoff game since 2015 and hosted its first playoff game since 2016. She had to sit on the sidelines while her shorthanded team pushed the eventual champions, the Las Vegas Aces, to overtime of a deciding Game 5 in the semifinals. She had to sit on the sidelines while the Fever sold out game after game, while the league set attendance and viewership records, while the growth she helped skyrocket lifted everything around her to new heights.
But she’s not on the sidelines anymore. Heading into her third season, Clark is healthy and ready to go. The expectations are high for the Fever, internally and externally. This isn’t the same team it was a year ago, and she is not the same person.
And she’ll immediately have a chance to remind the world — and WNBA executives — just how special she is, when the Fever host Bueckers’ Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in their season opener. As the eyes of the world tune in for Year 3 of the Caitlin Clark Experience, those closest to her are just happy to see her back where she belongs.
“It was such a hard year, a year ago, when you’re going through injury. It’s tough when you’re in and out, it’s tough when you’re not able to do what you love,” Fever head coach Stephanie White told reporters during training camp. “And so I just want to see her play with joy. I want to see her enjoy the opportunity that we have and this team and go out and do what she does best.”
Championship expectations
Drafting Clark with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft was a monumental moment for the Fever. But Indiana’s turnaround actually began in 2023, when the team picked Aliyah Boston with the first overall pick.
Even though it has now happened twice in a row — with the Fever in 2023 and 2024 and the Wings in 2025 and 2026 — it is historically rare for a franchise to get back-to-back No. 1 picks. And when it does happen, the championship clock immediately begins ticking. In 2001 and 2002, the Seattle Storm drafted Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird with back-to-back No. 1 picks. In 2004, they won the WNBA championship. In 2015 and 2016, the Storm once again had back-to-back No. 1 picks in Jewell Loyd and Breanna Stewart. They again won the WNBA championship in 2018 and 2020. The Aces’ franchise actually had three consecutive No. 1 picks in 2017 (when they were the San Antonio Stars), 2018 and 2019, with Kelsey Plum, A’ja Wilson and Jackie Young. They won titles in 2022 and 2023 with all three players, and in 2025 without Plum.
So based on this history, the Fever’s championship window is officially open. And everyone in the locker room firmly believes that is the case, particularly since the team was five minutes from making it to the WNBA Finals last year despite suffering through a litany of injuries, including to Clark.
“We’ve always mentioned, we’re chasing a championship,” Fever guard Lexie Hull mentioned earlier this week. “Falling short last year, I think that gives us extra motivation to really attack that this year and with the group we have, I think everyone’s mindset is a championship. It’s either a championship or it’s not successful for us as a season.”
Clark and the Fever both grew from trials in 2025
While Clark didn’t get to grow her game as much as she wanted in 2025, she still learned a lot from her sophomore campaign. She had never dealt with lingering injuries before, so she learned a lot about how to take care of her body, rehab and recover. She also learned how to be a leader off the court.
“More than anything, leadership and experience,” Clark mentioned when asked how she’s changed in the last year. “This is my third year, and even though I wasn’t out on the court last year a lot, you still learn on the sidelines. So I think that being somebody my teammates can really rely on and being a great communicator.”
But Clark isn’t the only member of the Fever that grew from the 2025 season. After all, she wasn’t the only one who was injured. The team suffered four other season-ending injuries last August. But they never hung their head.
“They stayed together. They put one foot in front of the other. And collectively, I always talk about, you know, connected teams are winning teams,” White mentioned. “And I think collectively, this group took ownership of being a player-led locker room, continued to stay together even through the tough times, and that matters. And I’m so glad that we learned that lesson in a positive way, that it showed them that we’ve got to own that every year, it can’t just be when things are bad, but but adversity reveals character, and the character of these women was on full display.”
Lessening the load on Clark
The Fever are returning a lot of key players from its 2025 campaign. Since they already had Clark and Boston on rookie contracts, the Fever’s main offseason priority was re-signing Kelsey Mitchell, and they were able to accomplish that. They also brought back Sophie Cunningham, Hull, Damiris Dantas and Makayla Timpson.
But, of course, this isn’t the same squad that fought through adversity in 2025. The Fever lost forward Natasha Howard in free agency, but brought in versatile frontcourt veterans Myisha Hines-Allen and Monique Billings to shore up the post. They also added a lot of athleticism and defensive prowess in the guard position thanks to veterans Tyasha Harris and Shatori Walker-Kimbrough and rookie Raven Johnson from South Carolina, who might be one of the steals of the draft at No. 10 overall.
“I’m most excited about our depth,” White mentioned when discussing the offseason moves. “I think more than anything, we want to be a bear on the defensive end of the floor. We want to be in the top three in the league and defense. And we want to play with more pace.”
One of White’s objectives this season is to get Clark a bit more rest and recovery time while she’s on the court. She hopes that by having other guards and even post players bring the ball up the court, it will open up new looks for the team and allow Clark to have some breaks from the physicality and intensity she faces.
“It’s just the way that people and teams play Caitlin is different than they play everyone else. It’s the nature of her skill set, of what she brings to the table. And it’s really the ultimate compliment. So in order to alleviate how hard she has to work on every single possession, it’s important to get her off the ball. When you think about, what are the ways that you can rest while you’re on the floor, that’s one way,” White mentioned.
“You know, it’s just, it’s a way to help her load management. It’s a way to help alleviate some of the extra stuff that’s put on her shoulders throughout the course of a game.”
Clark’s fresh perspective
While it is certainly worth a try, the truth is, there is little that White or anyone else can do to alleviate the pressure on Clark’s shoulders. In training camp, Clark was asked about the microscope she is under, and whether she finds ways to give herself grace.
“I think what people forget is I care more than any of all of you,” she told reporters. “I want to be the best. I’m always analyzing my play. I’m always trying to find ways to be better. And so I think just that’s part of it. And you know, I can always (try to) allow myself grace, but you always have that fire and that hunger inside of you to always want to be better.”
Still, she knows that for better or for worse, there’s always something new in the WNBA — whether it be a new franchise or a fresh new face or a new game. And now in her third season, she’s trying to find a way to balance her expectations and perfectionism with the reality of her own humanity and with an arduous season against the best players in the world.
“I think that’s the great thing about the W is it’s game to game to game. Like you’re gonna play three to four games a week and you always have an opportunity to turn the page and move on to the next one,” she mentioned. “So just reminding myself of that, and then obviously reminding myself how lucky I am to just be out there and be playing.”
