The Indiana Fever front office has been busy making moves to strengthen their roster in the offseason. After several notable signings over the past few weeks, Caitlin Clark’s team has climbed up the charts as legitimate title contenders. That’s not merely an opinion anymore as WNBA legend Sue Bird has given her stamp of approval to it.
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On a recent episode of A Touch More, Bird discussed Indiana’s moves and how they are expected to give them an edge in the upcoming season. Last year, they made it to the playoffs, which was nothing short of a miracle.
That was Indiana’s first visit to the playoffs since 2016, but Clark mainly carried the team. This time, she has enough help to challenge the likes of the Aces, the Lynx, and the Liberty for the title.
Bird said, “I think everyone agrees, right now [Indiana Fever] has gone from a team that made the playoffs last year, lost in the first round…to now an immediate contender with all the moves that they’ve made.”
The Fever’s roster now boasts some seasoned veterans with championship experience. They’ve added three-time WNBA Champion Natasha Howard, and two-time Champions DeWanna Bonner and Sydney Colson. They’ve also acquired an elite shooter in Sophie Cunningham and 26-year-old Jaelyn Brown.
Bird is particularly fond of her former Seattle teammate Howard and is excited about her joining forces with CC. She said, “I loved playing with Tash. I cannot say enough about Tash…She’s just this glue player that doesn’t get enough shine for what she does because a lot of what she does, doesn’t show up on the box score.”
The 44-year-old also stressed on the addition of Bonner because of her past experience playing with Fever head coach Stephanie White. However, four-time WNBA Champion isn’t the only one who has high hopes for Indiana this season.
Caitlin Clark is excited for the next season
Over the last weekend, Clark was busy getting her jersey retired in Iowa. But the 23-year-old had a finger on the pulse of what was going on inside her WNBA franchise. She said, “I’m excited. Obviously, we made some great moves. I think Kelly and Amber and the whole Fever organization are helping us win now, and I think that’s really important.”
CC believes that the players who have been added to the roster are the perfect fit for the organization and can contribute immensely to the Fever’s season goals. She said, “I think they’re putting really good pieces together that are going to complement each other really, really well.”
Clark is also very happy about the 2023 WNBA Coach of the Year Stephanie White taking over the head coaching responsibility in Indiana. She said, “Steph taking over as head coach for us, I think is going to be really great. A great basketball mind, somebody that actually called quite a few of my college games.”
It’s a pretty exciting time for the Fever as they look prepared for every challenge in the upcoming season. The franchise hasn’t won a championship since 2012 and 2025 is where it could all change.
