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2025 Indiana Fever season
WNBA team season From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The 2025 Indiana Fever season is the franchise's 26th season in the WNBA and their 3rd season under head coach, Stephanie White, who returns to the franchise where she was previously coached the Fever from 2015 to 2016.[1]
The Fever finished 6th in the 2024 regular season, making the playoffs for the first time since 2016.[2] On October 27, 2024, the Fever announced the firing of head coach Christie Sides, after the end of the 2024 season.[1] Then on November 1, the Fever announced Stephanie White as their new head coach.[3] During the 2025 regular season, White missed two games in June due to personal reasons during which assistant coach, Austin Kelly, served as acting head coach.[4][5]
The Fever set a WNBA record for highest resale ticket prices for a preseason game with an average ticket price of $440 (before fees) for their May 4 exhibition game against Brazil at Carver–Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City, Iowa.[6] However, on game day, it was reported that resale ticket prices for this game was at an average ticket price of $670, making it the highest price on record for any WNBA game since 2015.[7] The game was the third most viewed preseason basketball game on ESPN (in both NBA and WNBA history) since 2010 with 1.3 million viewers.[8][9]
In May 2025 the Indiana Fever launched Fever Direct with Endeavor Streaming to provide access to a maximum of 18 live regular season games and full game replays to fans in approved Midwest regions.[10]
On May 18, 2025, the WNBA announced they had opened an investigation regarding, "allegations of inappropriate fan conduct" directed at Chicago Sky players occurring the Fever's May 17 home opener versus the Sky.[11][12] The Sky's head coach, Tyler Marsh, told the press that he and his team did not report or witness any misconduct while at Gainbridge Fieldhouse and only learned about the allegations after the game had concluded.[13] Nine days later, the WNBA announced their investigation was complete, and all allegations of racist fan behavior were unsubstantiated.[14][15][16]
During 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup game play, the Fever went 4–1 in their conference.[17] Due to their head-to-head win over the New York Liberty on June 14, the Fever advanced to the final as the representative of the Eastern conference to face the Minnesota Lynx.[18] The two teams met on July 1 at the Target Center, where the Fever claimed the mid-season trophy (and its $500,000 prize pot), winning the game 74–59 despite their starting point guard, Clark, being out with a groin injury.[19] At the conclusion of the tournament, the Fever had raised a total of $23,000 for Peace Learning Center in Indianapolis.[20]
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All-Star hosts
In August 2024, the WNBA announced that the Fever would host 2025 WNBA All-Star Game and related events in July 2025 for the first time in franchise history.[21] Tickets for All-Star weekend events went on sale on April 29, 2025, and sold out within seven hours.[22][23]
On June 29, Clark was named team captain for the 2025 All-Star Game for the first time in her career after receiving 1,293,526 votes, the most votes in WNBA history (breaking her own voting record from the 2024 season).[24][25] The following day, Aliyah Boston was also named an All-Star starter, her third time earning All-Star honors in her WNBA career.[26] The Fever had a total of eight players in the top 40 of total fan All-Star votes.[27] No other team in the league had more than four players crack the top 40.[27] On July 6, Kelsey Mitchell earned her third All-Star selection.[28] During the All-Star draft on July 8, Clark selected both Boston and Mitchell as her first picks from the starter and reserve players, respectively.[29][30]
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Draft
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After trading away their 2025 first round pick, the Fever entered the draft with two consecutive second round picks as well as their own third round pick.[31]
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Transactions
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Front office and coaching
On January 16, 2025, Pacers Sports & Entertainment announced that the Fever would have its own devoted practice facility walking distance from Gainbridge Fieldhouse by 2027. The $78 million exclusive sports performance center will be spread across 108,000 sq. ft., making it the largest practice facility among the existing WNBA teams.[37][38]
Trades
Free agency
DeWanna Bonner began the 2025 season, starting the first three games; however, she came off the bench for the following six games (with Lexie Hull getting the starting nod).[46] Since the Fever's June 13 game, Bonner was listed on injury reports as unavailable due to "personal reasons."[46] On June 24, 2025, it was reported that Bonner "[had] no interest in returning to play for the Fever."[46][47] The next day, the Fever announced that they had waived Bonner, who in her own words stated she "felt the fit did not work out" and she preferred to play for teams such as the Phoenix Mercury or the Atlanta Dream.[48][49] Fever general manager, Amber Cox, spoke to the press on June 26 and stated that Bonner expressed her dissatisfaction "nine, ten games [into the season]" and that equal trade opportunities were sought but no suitable trade options were found which resulted in Bonner being waived.[50]
Core designation
Re-signed / extensions
Additions
- The Fever were permitted to sign player to this type of contract due to the team not having 10 game-eligible players at the time of McDonald's signing (Clark, Colson, and Cunningham were out with leg injuries).[60]
- The Fever were permitted to sign player to this type of contract due to the injuries of Colson and McDonald.[65]
Subtractions / unsigned
In 2024, the WNBA held its first expansion draft since 2008.[69] The league's new expansion team, the Golden State Valkyries, selected Temi Fágbénlé from the Fever roster during the draft.[70]
- Samuelson was waived and signed a mutual contract termination agreement with the Fever.[75]
- The Fever were obligated to release McDonald due to the return of Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham from injuries.[84] Their returns resulted in the team no longer meeting the WNBA's emergency hardship exception requirements to keep McDonald on their roster.[85]
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Roster
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Depth
Injuries
On May 26, 2025, the Fever announced that Caitlin Clark had suffered a left quadriceps strain and would be out for a minimum of two weeks.[89] During her June 5 status update press conference, Clark revealed her injury occurred during the Fever's May 24 game against the New York Liberty.[90] In the May 30 match-up against Connecticut, two more Fever guards, Sydney Colson and Sophie Cunningham, both left the game with upper left leg and right ankle injuries, respectively.[91][92] To keep a roster with 10 game-eligible players, the Fever signed guard, Aari McDonald, on June 1 to an emergency hardship contract.[60] Due to Clark and Cunningham's likely return for the June 14 game hosting the Liberty, McDonald was waived by the Fever on June 13.[84] Clark and Cunningham returned to play on June 14 in the Fever's home win over the New York Liberty, handing the reigning champs their first loss of the 2025 season.[93] In that June 14 game, the team set a new franchise single-game record with a total of seventeen made three-pointers.[94][95]
On June 26, 2025, the Fever announced Clark would miss that day's home game against the Los Angeles Sparks due to a left groin injury.[96][97][98] Fever head coach, Stephanie White, stated to the press that Clark and her ability to return to play likely would be assessed on "day-to-day" basis.[98] During practice media availability on July 8, White and Clark both stated their expectation for Clark to be off the Fever's injury report and available for their game on July 9.[99][100] She did return to play for the next four games (leading the Fever to a 3–1 stretch) before she suffered a right groin injury in the final minutes of their July 15 game against the Connecticut Sun.[101] Clark missed her tenth game of the season, a back-to-back at New York, prior to the All-Star weekend.[102] On July 17, Clark announced via the Fever's social media that she would not be participating in the 2025 three-point contest or playing All-Star game due to her injury and "need to rest [her] body."[103][104] On July 24, the Fever announced that Clark underwent further medical evaluations in which "no additional injuries or damage were discovered"; however, no was timeline provided for Clark's return in the press release.[105]
During the Fever's August 7 game at Phoenix (hours after the final trade deadline of the season), Sydney Colson was helped to the locker room in the first quarter after a non-contact injury to her left leg, and Aari McDonald exited the fourth with a right foot injury.[106][107] The following day, the Fever announced both Colson and McDonald had sustained season-ending injuries, Colson with a left ACL tear and McDonald with a fracture in her right foot, leaving the Fever without any healthy point guards.[108][109] On August 10, Odyssey Sims was signed to a 7-day hardship contract, and on August 14, rookie guard, Kyra Lambert, was signed to a 7-day contract.[65][67] Lambert was released on August 18.[68]
In the second quarter of the Fever's match-up at Connecticut on August 17, Sophie Cunningham left the game with a right knee injury after Sun guard, Bria Hartley, stumbled into the paint and fell into Cunningham's leg.[110] On August 19, the Fever stated that Cunningham would be out for the remainder of the Fever's season due to her right knee injury and had signed Shey Peddy to a 7-day hardship contract.[68] Later that same day, the Indianapolis Star reported Cunningham's season-ending injury was a torn right MCL, per a league source.[111]
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Schedule
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Preseason
Regular season
Notes:
- All games highlighted in light orange represent Commissioner's Cup games.
- Assistant coach, Austin Kelly, served as head coach for this game as Stephanie White was not available due to personal reasons.[4][5]
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Standings
Notes
- (#) – League Standing
- c – Commissioner's Cup winners
- x – Clinched playoff berth
- e – Eliminated from playoff contention
- Source: Overall standings and Commissioner's Cup Standings
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Awards and honors
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References
External links
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