The Indiana Fever are not off to the start we all imagined when Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and Sophie Cunningham inked new contracts with the team and Caitlin Clark entered the season healthy and ready to go. Instead of running away with one of the best records in the league, the Fever are ninth with a 4-4 record.
The team’s struggles blew up in a 100-84 blowout loss to the Portland Fire that featured atrocious defense from Clark and an argument between her and head coach Stephanie White in a huddle. After a disappointing start to the season and a viral argument with her superstar player, some fans began to wonder how much longer White would be coaching the Fever.
But the Fever only suffered one really bad loss—all others were decided by one possession—and also strung together some good wins. Two teams with a ton of veteran talent and win-now aspirations are off to a worse start: the Phoenix Mercury and the Los Angeles Sparks.
Phoenix is struggling a lot, and it could cost Nate Tibbetts his job
This is not to say that Nate Tibbetts is a bad coach or that the Mercury’s struggles are solely his fault. He took the team to the finals last season, after all. Becky Hammon coached circles around him, but it was his first time coaching at such a high level, and if you’re going to let yourself be outcoached by someone in the W, it better be Becky Hammon or Cheryl Reeve.
Still, a team built around Kahleah Coppper, Alyssa Thomas, and DeWanna Bonner, fresh off a finals appearance, should not be 3-8 and competing with the Seattle Storm and Connecticut Sun for the worst record in the league—even after losing Satou Sabally. The Mercury already made some roster changes, like waiving Kiana Williams and re-signing Lexi Held.
If they cannot significantly improve their record, the next move could very well be to try a new head coach. The last time the Mercury fired a head coach was in 2023 when Vanessa Nygaard got off to a 2-10 start with a team built around Diana Taurasi and Brittney Griner.
The Sparks’ win-now strategy isn’t working out so far
The Sparks gave up on Dominique Malonga when they traded the number-two pick in the 2025 WNBA for Kelsey Plum and Rickea Jackson, who was sent to Chicago in exchange for Ariel Atkins, to build a veteran-heavy roster that can compete right away. And yet, the Sparks are off to a 4-5 start and sit well outside the playoff picture.
Kelsey Plum missed a few games, but the Sparks also lost when Plum was playing and putting up nearly 30 points a game. Despite the offensive firepower that Plum, Nneka Ogwumike, and Dearica Hamby offer, the Sparks only sport a middling offensive rating—the eighth-best in the league. Bringing in Ogwumike and Atkins was also supposed to boost the Sparks’ defense, but they still rank dead last in defensive rating.
Missing the playoffs after giving up so much young talent would be devastating. If Lynne Roberts cannot turn things around soon, the Sparks may be inclined to part ways with her.
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