WNBA star says she can ‘absolutely’ win championship this year

The Indiana Fever ended the 2022 season with a 5-31 record — 5 wins, 31 losses. In 2023, they drafted Aliyah Boston No. 1 overall, and went 13-27 the following year. That record allowed them to draft Caitlin Clark No. 1 overall in 2024, who led the team to a 20-20 record and their first WNBA playoff appearance in eight seasons. It was also the first time the Fever had reached the 20-win threshold since 2015.

It was a huge improvement, but also a year of lessons for the entire Indiana Fever franchise. They learned what Clark and Boston needed to succeed, and got to work in the offseason making those things happen.

Heading into the 2025 season, the Indiana Fever now have a new head coach as well as new players to complement their young core. They added veteran players DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard and more — mix that with an elevated Clark and Boston with another year under their belts, and Indiana is looking good going into the season.

At Indiana Fever Media Day, Clark was asked if she thinks this year’s team can win a championship.

“Absolutely,” Clark said, and when asked what success would look like to her in 2025, she offered similar answer: “A Championship.”

Clark also made further comments to reporters about the gratitude she has for the veteran players who chose to come play in Indiana this year. She wants to win for them, saying they could have gone anywhere else, and they deserve her best.

While the moves Indiana made certainly boost the Fever from fringe playoff team to a potential homecourt advantage kind of team, it will still be a battle. WNBA teams just keep leveling up and getting better, and the teams that seem to stand in Indiana’s way at the moment are the New York Liberty, Las Vegas Aces and Minnesota Lynx. All three of those teams are led by juggernaut talents — A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier.

Between Wilson, Stewart, and Collier are 5 WNBA MVP awards, 3 Defensive Player of the Year Awards, 6 NCAA National Championships, 5 WNBA Championships, 12 All-WNBA First Team nods, 3 EuroLeague Championships, 7 Olympic Gold Medals, 5 World Cup Gold Medals — to name a few accolades. These three are proven winners with Finals-level supporting talent on their teams.

There’s no doubt the Fever will see another leap in season record this season, and as we get a better idea of how this team looks, their ceiling will become clearer. But for now, the idea of having to face two of the above teams in a playoff series, depending on how the standings shake out, will be the biggest challenge Indiana will have to overcome on any path to a potential championship.