The Indiana Fever are just two wins from their first WNBA Finals trip in 12 seasons. The franchise’s last appearance came in 2015 and their lone championship happened in 2012 behind the play of WNBA legend Tamika Catchings. With their improbable first round win over the higher seeded Atlanta Dream and Sunday’s 89-73 Game 1 at the second-seeded Las Vegas Aces, the Fever are playing some of their best basketball of the season.
Despite not having star guard Caitlin Clark — whose injury-plagued season saw her play only 13 games, and rotation players Sophie Cunningham and Aari McDonals the teamon the cusp of playing for a championship as a sixth seed. Speaking of the aforementioned Clark, the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year has come under fire for comments made following the team’s Game 2 win over the Dream that tied the series.
Clark Reveals Fine Following Game 3 Win In Atlanta
Celebrating her team’s huge upset win in Game 2 Clark took her Instagram to post this….
“Refs couldn’t stop us… Elite bench mob.”
Those comments drew the ire of the league and she was quietly fined $200 for her transgression.
Following the Fever’s decisive Game 3 win the sharpshooter and NCAA’s all-time leading scorer shared that she had indeed been fined for her previous comments, but that didn’t stop her from making more comments.
“BENCH MOB WILL BE EVEN MORE ROWDY TOMORROW LETS GOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!,” Clark wrote…
Teammate Clowns WNBA For Fine
Clark has had the continued support of all her teammates, but no one has gone above and beyond to support Clark like the aforementioned Cunningham. The do-it-all hard-nosed former Missouri Tigers star joked about the fine.
“That’s gonna really break the bank for her. Starting a GoFundMe now,” she wrote.
Fever Being Led By Kelsey Mitchell
Coming into the season the Fever were expected to contend for a WNBA championship, and injuries to Clark and others were suppose to hamper that. That’s been anything but the truth ,as dynamic guard Kelsey Mitchell who’s the team’s longest tenured player (8 years).
Mitchell, an elite scoring guard out of Ohio State, saw nothing but losing before the last two seasons when the team added 2023 No. 1 overall and Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston and the aforementioned Clark in back-to-back drafts. That, along with some shrewd offseason veteran additions (Natasha Howard, Lexie Hull and Cunningham), plus the aforementioned McDonald and as of late Odyssey Simms, meansthe Fever have surrounded Mitchell with some nice pieces.
Following her 34-point Game 1 masterpiece on Sunday, the usually quiet Mitchell talked a bit.
“That’s the growth,” Mitchell said. “That’s the experience, that’s the being at the bottom of the barrel, that’s the not being on anybody’s radar and being a loser. So I’ve seen that. I know what that looks like.”
She doesn’t need to talk much, just ball. Bench Mob players Sophie, CC and Ari will be providing enough chirping in referees ears and bringing inspiration and grit and support to the Fever and head coach Stephanie White as they continue this incredible run without Caitlin Clark on the court, but very much involved in the energy of the playoffs.
