It wasn't obvious at the time, but Caitlin Clark's decision to pull out of the rest of the 2025 WNBA season might just prove to be the spark the Indiana Fever needed to lock in and starting winning games.
It's no secret that pretty much nothing about the 2025 season has gone the way the Fever hoped it might. Clark's missed more games than she's played — missed more games than she's ever missed in her entire life, in fact — due to a smorgasbord of injuries that she just didn't seem to be able to fully recover from. The team has also lost Aari McDonald, who joined the team in June, broke her foot; Sydney Colson tore her ACL during the same game, and Sophie Cunningham tore her MCL in August. Chloe Bibby, who barely had time to play a game, is missing the rest of the season with a knee injury, and Damiris Dantas is currently out with a concussion.
Every single loss to injury has been a major blow for the team, but there's no denying that Clark's September 4 announcement she will miss the remainder of the 2025 season was a painful wake up call to fans who hoped to see her back on the court this year. And though waiting for another WNBA season to roll around will require a lot of patience, it's starting to look like Clark made the right call — not only for herself, but for her teammates, too.
The Indiana Fever is on fire right now
In case you missed it, the Fever has been shattering expectations lately. The team knocked Atlanta, who were touted as favorites to win the Championship this season, out of the first round of the playoffs, a combination of words that wouldn't necessarily have always felt possible to string together at various points this season. The team advanced to the Semifinals and met the Aces at home in Las Vegas today — and put the team to bed with a clear 89-73 win.
While it's tempting to imagine what the playoffs would be like if Clark was on the court draining logo 3s, it's more important to focus on what's actually happening — and that's the fact that the Fever are winning. Clark's announcement finally quelled speculation that she could return at any point, something fans were clinging to, and maybe even something her own teammates were planning for.
Making the decision to step back from the game this season and focus on supporting her teammates was the right one for Clark in terms of her health and recovery, and it seems it's also given the rest of the Fever the clarity they needed to get out there and win some games. Now, there are no more questions left; the team finally has the opportunity to run plays knowing exactly who will be out on the court and who will not.
The Indiana Fever is different — and that's a good thing
The results are speaking for themselves. Yes, the Fever is different without Clark on the floor. Yes, the Fever is in the Semifinals for the first time in a long time without her — and yes, they could have gotten there with Clark, too. But the fact of the matter is the team is stronger than they've been all season, and the team is coalescing at exactly the moment they need to.
That's a credit to Kelsey Mitchell, a constant for the Fever for years, and a player who is finally getting the attention and praise she deserves. It's also a credit to Coach White and her coaching staff, who have steered a constantly shifting roster to the brink of greatness — and who might manage to push them over it. It's definitely a credit to the Fever as a team, as a fan base, and as an organization.
When Clark announced her first regular season injury in May, it seemed like everything was over before it had even started. When she announced her decision to remain off the court for the duration of the 2025 season, it felt like things were definitely coming to an end all over again. But the reality is that being forced to pause, being forced to sit the experience of missing out on what we want most dearly, can sometimes teach us a thing or two — and Caitlin Clark, who undoubtedly has many healthy seasons ahead of her, may very well come out of this holistically as exactly the kind of player the Fever needs for a long, long time.