It’s been just two games without Caitlin Clark, and the league is already experiencing tremors of her absence. The ticket prices have plummeted. The attendance at games has dropped, and they are facing further scrutiny on how they manage this league. 

The physicality and refereeing of the WNBA are being questioned, with players dropping like flies all around the league. Add to that the WNBA made things worse for themselves when they formally launched an investigation into whether the Indiana crowd passed racially motivated remarks on the Sky players. This proved to be just fluff, as they later said that these claims have not been substantiated. This act has pushed the Fever away from the league and this national analyst has critiqued the league on its response to the claims of racism.

Rachel A. DeMita said on her Youtube Channel, “We have seen that the WNBA as a whole still doesn’t respect certain things about the Indiana Fever. They have so much to say about the Indiana Fever fan base. You have siblings and family members of people who work in the WNBA, and you have WNBA media spreading lies about a new fan base that came in and created billions for a league.”

The Indiana Fever are the team with the highest average attendance over the last two years, with 17,000 people regularly attending games. They have sold the most merchandise, and their games are the most watched on every major sports network. They have the most nationally televised games, with 41 this season. You can recount at least a couple dozen popularity metrics in which Fever is leading.

Unlike other teams, like the Las Vegas Aces or New York Liberty, who faced crowd-related flare-ups in 2024 without triggering full-blown investigations, the Fever seem to be under a microscope, as if the league is still unsure how to handle their sudden rise or the tidal wave of attention Clark brings with her.

You can attribute the majority of the growth to Caitlin Clark, but people came in the door for Clark but have stayed due to other factors. The other players on the team are gaining momentum. People like the style of basketball that the Indiana Fever play: fast-paced and one-second passing. That expanded fanbase was the reason they had 16,000 people attending their game against the Sun at home even without Clark. 

So you would think the WNBA would be grateful for this sudden growth. But no, they had to launch an investigation based on claims from social media trolls and the media had to jump on that bandwagon, with ESPN analysts like Chiney Ogumike further claiming that her sources heard things that warranted this. You had the WNBPA giving statements, calling the crowd’s behaviour ‘unacceptable.’ But they are yet to say something after the investigation yielded nothing. 

She further gave a stern warning to the league to focus on something that actually matters. She said, “Now we get to the point where we are six games in and the Indiana Fever looks like this on the court and that’s why I’ve been screaming at the top of my lungs, stop worrying about all of these little things on social media, all of these things. Worry about the product on the court because at the end of the day these millions of fans who are coming in want to see a good product on the court; they want to see the product that they fell in love with.”

The Fever have lost 2 out of their 3 players to contact injuries, which could have been avoided. Even the injury to Clark has been long overdue, considering how she was thrown around last year and even faced multiple physical plays this year. That compounded up to this injury, which actually could have been worse. Sydney Colson limped out against the Mystics along with Sophie Cunningham. 

Now you have the most popular team in the league not able to rake in those numbers because of an injury crisis. The league has just shot itself in the foot because of the way it works. They will need to make some changes if they want the current audience to stay or it could just vanish next year and they are back to square one. 

Can the Indiana Fever avoid a three-game losing streak against the Washington Mystics?

It has not been a pretty look for the Indiana Fever without Caitlin Clark, losing both games without her against the Mystics and the Connecticut Sun. Now they face the Mystics in a rematch once again but how can they turn their fortunes around?

The first thing on their to-do list would be containing the bubbly rookie duo of Kiki Iriafen and Sonia Citron. Once they get going, it will be difficult to stop them, considering their red-hot form. The team has to hone in on the duo defensively to keep the Mystics’ offense from getting too many easy looks down low. It’s going to fall on the shoulders of Aliyah Boston and Natasha Howard to get that job done.

To snap the skid on June 3, 2025, the Fever need to lock in on defense and play their game. Shutting down Mystics’ Iriafen, who’s averaging around 14.5 points on 52% shooting, and Citron, with about 10.3 points and 4.1 assists, requires tight pick-and-roll defense, maybe with Katie Lou Samuelson hounding Citron’s passes. Offensively, they can exploit the Mystics’ shaky perimeter defense, ranked 10th in the league, allowing roughly 36% from three. Erica Wheeler’s 38% three-point shooting could be a game-changer. Getting out in transition is key, Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston can dominate in the open court if the Fever turn stops into fast breaks.

In their most recent matchup against the Mystics, the Fever revealed a troubling pattern that has been emerging throughout the early part of the season: a consistent breakdown in defensive execution and a lack of urgency in transition. The Fever allowed 48 points in the paint, signaling a clear vulnerability in their interior defense. Whether it stemmed from late help-side rotations, poor containment of ball handlers, or mismatches in the post, Indiana struggled to protect the most critical scoring area on the floor. Offensively, they managed only 32 points in the paint, which highlighted not only their defensive shortcomings but also a lack of aggression and creativity when attacking the rim.

Even more concerning was their complete absence in transition. The Mystics outscored the Fever 11 to 0 in fast break points, a statistic that goes beyond missed chances and points to a deeper issue with tempo, spacing, and overall energy. 

With the athleticism and talent on their roster, particularly in the backcourt, Indiana should be capitalizing on open-court opportunities. Instead, they looked passive and disconnected, failing to push the pace or convert stops into quick offensive chances. White will need to stick to the core of her philosophies and push this team to play that fast-paced brand of basketball that she earlier promised, even without Clark.