The WNBA preseason got underway in earnest, and on tap was the Indiana Fever versus the New York Liberty, two of the top three preseason favorites to hoist the 2026 championship, along with the defending champion Las Vegas Aces. The game marked the return of 2024 No. 1 overall pick Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, who played in only 13 games last season.
Raven Johnson Shines In Indiana Fever Debut
Looking to shake off the rust, Clark struggled, going 2-for-10 from the field. But the star of the day was rookie Raven Johnson, a former South Carolina Gamecocks star who stole the day with her overall floor game. The gritty two-time national champion floor leader while playing under the legendary Dawn Staley showed everyone why she was chosen with the 10th overall pick in this year’s draft.
Johnson’s Play Could Hurt Clark’s MVP Chances
In the Fever’s 109-91 win over the Liberty, Johnson chimed in with six points (3-3 shooting), three rebounds, eight assists, zero turnovers, one steal and two blocks. That type of play signals a shift in how the Fever will likely approach this season, and that’s means more of the aforementioned Clark off the basketball and allowing Johnson to initiate the team’s offense. That could mean a drop in Clark’s assists and how she accumulates triple-doubles, of which she’s tied with the legendary Candace Parker third all time with three.
Clark spoke about her rookie teammate following Saturday’s win.
“I think just helping as much as I can, especially Raven, who is going to be a primary ball handler and conduct the offense. That’s a big responsibility,” Clark said regarding Raven. However, the point guard got caught up in her words next as she managed to gloss over an obvious joke.
“I want to empower her to use her voice and do what she does well. She’s a great defender, has long arms, and gets her hands all over the balls. Pause, sorry,” Clark said with a sly smirk.
Fans Chime In On Johnson’s Day And What It Could Mean Going Forward
In the aftermath of Saturday’s events fans took to social media to voice their varying opinions.
“The Calarksies are not gonna like this,” one fan said.
“Caitlin Clark better learn how to play SG because Raven Johnson bringing that ball up the court,” another fan said.
“Raven did fine. Against a preseason team that most of the players won’t even make,” one observer began. “It won’t be the same when she’s playing against starters the whole game. This delusion that somehow Raven is better than CC is amazing. I’m just talking about strictly basketball. If you removed race, names, identity, and just evaluated the two players purely on basketball…… I wonder who would arise as the better player?”
“Then it’s no comparison! It will be Raven. Raven impacts the total game! CC is ONLY a GREAT shooter! So when you put it that way it’s Raven ALL DAY. And that’s from a basketball perspective! I don’t do the race thing like you all do. I can careless about that crap!” another fan replied.
“Raven only affects defense. She’s not a scoring threat and won’t have the ball enough to be a true playmaker. When you don’t do much offensively you have time to put all your energy into defense,” another critic mentioned.
“I’m not sure they’ll even keep Raven or any of the rookies for that matter. Or for how long? But they already brought in more veteran guards to play back up for Clark. Raven will not likely see anything but trash time on this fever team,” a contrarian commenter said.
“Raven has a guaranteed contract and it’s cheaper than Ty and Shatori’s contracts which aren’t guaranteed. Once Pissot is ready they’ll cut Shatori or Ty and give Raven all of those minutes behind Caitlin and Kelsey,” that fan replied to the previous fan.
Johnson Says She And Clark Haven’t Discussed Elephant In The Room
After being drafted by the Fever, Johnson was asked about her and Clark’s history, one that saw Clark completely disregard her on the offensive end in the Iowa Hawkeyes’ upset of the then undefeated South Carolina Gamecocks in the 2023 Final Four.
A year later it was Johnson’s defense and toughness that helped the Gamecocks get payback, beating the Hawkeyes to capture Coach Staley’s third national title.
Johnson was asked if she and Clark talked about that after she was drafted.
“No, we haven’t. I think that’s in the past, honestly. We’re teammates now and we have one goal, that’s to win a championship,” Johnson said
At the time of the incident Johnson got says she felt the lowest she’d ever felt in her career.
“I got bashed, I got bullied… I wanted to quit basketball at that time.”
Now they’re teammates who are expected to help the Fever compete for its second WNBA title and first since Tamika Catchings led them to the mountaintop in 2012.
