Key events
Tonight’s matchup
While the Fever are on the way up, perhaps there wasn’t much farther down they could go from two years ago, what about the Sun?
Connecticut has always been a pretty good place for women’s basketball. Being a proud Duke graduate, that’s all I will concede on the matter.
While most WNBA teams are associated with NBA teams, the Sun are owned by the Mohegan tribe. The name derives from the Mohegan Sun casino, where the team plays. (Well, in an arena adjoining it. They don’t run a zone defense amid the slot machines.)
They were finalists in 2019, losing to Washington, and 2022, losing to Las Vegas in an all-casino matchup. Last year, they lost in the conference finals to the New York Liberty, who are led by the last women’s college phenom to break into the public consciousness, Sabrina Ionescu.
Leading scorer Alyssa Thomas returns for her 11th WNBA season. An intriguing addition is Queen Egbo, the 2022 WNBA rookie of the year … for Indiana. She spent part of last season with Washington before moving to Connecticut.
They do not have a highly touted rookie, to put it mildly. Their first-round draft pick, Leila Lacan, decided to remain in Europe.
Caitlin the champion?
For those who don’t know how US pro sports work – Clark did not offer her services to the highest bidder or the best club as she would in Europe. Teams that don’t make the playoffs in the WNBA (as in the NBA) are placed in a weighted lottery. The winner this year – the Indiana Fever.
How’d they do last year? They were 13-27. That was an improvement over the 5-31 record the year before.
But the Fever have some good young players. After 27-year-old veteran Kelsey Mitchell, the next two leading scorers last year were 6-foot-5 rookie center (from South Carolina) Aliyah Boston and NaLyssa Smith, who was in her second year.
Still, will that be enough to get the Fever into the playoffs, let alone a deep run in the postseason? Our Guardian panel says no:
Anyone remember the ABL? No?
The American Basketball League launched in 1996, before the WNBA. The ABL offered players more money. The WNBA offered more marketing and a schedule that didn’t go head-to-head with the NBA and college basketball.
Now, almost 30 years later, the spotlight is on Caitlin Clark. But it’s also on the league itself, just as the spotlight was on MLS when it signed David Beckham – or even on the NBA itself when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird stepped into the league after seizing center stage in the 1979 NCAA final.
Can the league capitalize on the star power of Clark – and other talented players working their way into a league that doesn’t have much space for rookies?
We won’t get any answers tonight. We’ll just have a fun basketball game to watch. Enjoy.
Our writers on the season ahead for Caitlin Clark
Caitlin Clark is …
A phenomenon, who must be given the grace to adjust. The Indiana Fever will have to acclimate to utilising the space Clark creates, rather than relying solely on her to orchestrate plays. Players such as NaLyssa Smith, Temi Fagbenle and Aliyah Boston will play pivotal roles in transitioning the ball for Clark, and can boost their own individual statistics as opponents focus on containing Clark’s offensive threat. Yara El-Shaboury
Under a glare like no player before her. The all-time scoring leader in major college basketball history is the bandleader of a sensational rookie class that has recalibrated all expectations for how women’s sports can be covered, commercialized and consumed. It also ensures a precipitous learning curve in a cutthroat league where veterans have been famously unsparing on newcomers. Clark will be facing the best efforts on a nightly basis from opponents looking to draft off her unprecedented reach. Bryan Graham
A rising tide that lifts all boats, but she’s also in for an adjustment. I don’t only mean the regular transitions rookies go through stepping into competition against seasoned pros, and the rhythms of a W season, but the stardom that’s going to shape her world. She had a glimpse of it at Iowa, but college was a bubble for her. This stage is going to be so much different and I hope the Fever have a good buffer plan in place. Katie Heidl
Making herself right at home, putting up threes with much the same abandon she did at Iowa. It’ll be interesting to see if she’ll be able to pick her spots at will once the games count and the competition stiffens. But I expect her to raise the standard in Indiana in much the same way as New York’s Sabrina Ionescu did in her 2020 debut. Andrew Lawrence
How to watch Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut with the Indiana Fever
Beau will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s more information on tonight’s game:
Start time: Caitlin Clark’s WNBA debut for the Indiana Fever will start at 7.30pm ET against the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Where to watch: The game can be seen on ESPN2, ESPN+ and Disney+
There has also been widespread discussion of the relatively low wage Clark will earn as an WNBA player, particularly compared to her NBA counterparts. Andrew Lawrence broke down the earning – and the arguments – for us this week:
You can also get our full WNBA season predictions here:
