Fever look to veterans for boost in Year 2 of Clark era

Stephanie White is exactly where she's supposed to be.

The new Indiana Fever head coach had many reasons to return home for a second stint after splitting with the Connecticut Sun last October.

White starred for Purdue during its national championship run in 1999, played four seasons for the Fever, and later guided her home-state WNBA team to the 2015 Finals in her first season as a head coach.

But the prospect of coaching a rising contender led by superstar Caitlin Clark stood out most as White contemplated her next stop.

"Part of filling your cup in coaching is not just working with great players and working with great people, but it's how they go to work and how they show up … This is a competitive group. This is a selfless group. This is a high-energy group. That fills our cup every day," White told theScore during the Fever's season launch press conference.

White added: "I've been around a lot of different teams and there's just no greater compliment than to walk into work every day and knowing that you're getting your cup filled."

Indiana president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf and general manager Amber Cox took a calculated approach to the offseason, surrounding their young core with veterans - specifically, ones with championship rings.

DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, and Sydney Colson have each won multiple WNBA titles and bring a combined 164 postseason appearances to the table. No player is as battle-tested as Bonner, the league's all-time leader in playoff minutes who trails only Diana Taurasi in points scored.

Last year's entire Fever roster entered their first-round postseason series against the Sun with 19 playoff games under their belts.

"The main thing we were lacking last year was (playoff) experience," Clark told reporters, including theScore. "Adding really great vets like (Bonner), Syd (Colson), and Tash (Howard) and putting that experience around us of not just being in this league, but also winning.

"They have the championship pedigree … and I think having their voices in our locker room and on the court every single day is what's gonna really help us."

Colson was part of the Las Vegas Aces' back-to-back title runs in 2022 and 2023. The 11th-year backup guard highlighted communication as a key component of those championship teams.

Colson fully grasps her role as a mentor, but she's also encouraging her younger teammates to express themselves.

"A lot of us vets, we're not really coming in and waiting to speak," Colson told reporters at the team's media day in April. "You know that you have wisdom and advice to give and so you want to give it. But the beautiful thing is that our younger players speak too.

"It's not just if you're older, you get a say. Everybody has some knowledge to give, and we all respect one another's voices."

Clark emerged as one of the WNBA's new faces last year, becoming the first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008 to earn an All-WNBA first-team nod. The Iowa standout also set a new single-game league record for assists (19) and led her peers in both dimes (8.4 per contest) and triples (122) during her Rookie of the Year campaign.

Clark's debut season was a smashing success, but the All-Star guard wishes she'd been more vocal.

"When you're the point guard, you've gotta be the strongest voice on the floor," Clark said. "I think at times that's where I struggled last year just coming in as a rookie. You don't know when to use your voice. You didn't know when to listen to your vets. You don't know the best way to handle a lot of those situations."

Like any player transitioning to the pros, Clark initially had trouble with the increased physicality and athleticism of the WNBA. Opponents often threw blitzes and double-teams at Clark in an attempt to wear her down.

All the contact Clark took while cutting through the lane or finishing at the basket added up as the season progressed. She's better prepared to handle the cumulative wear and tear after dedicating much of her offseason to the weight room.

"You can tell looking at her frame that she has more bulk to her. She has more strength to her," WNBA color commentator Rebecca Lobo told reporters, including theScore, during ESPN's tip-off media call.

Lobo added: "How much stronger is she going to feel come playoff time or nearing the end of the season because of the strength she put on and how she's able to absorb that contact a little bit better?"

The supporting cast around the pre-existing core of Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell is stronger as well.

Free-agent signings Bonner and Howard give the Fever a pair of rim-running forwards to leak out in transition with Clark.

While Bonner and the departed NaLyssa Smith made a nearly identical percentage of their 3-point attempts, the former knocked down 44 more triples and is a threat from beyond the arc in pick-and-pop actions.

Sophie Cunningham, acquired from the Phoenix Mercury, adds another sharpshooter to the team's dynamic attack. The 6-foot-1 wing has drilled 36.2% of her threes since entering the league in 2019 and provides some much-needed offensive pop off the bench.

But Bonner, Howard, and Cunningham will likely make their most important contributions to the Fever at the other end of the court. Indiana finished second-last in defensive efficiency in each of the previous two campaigns. The Fever tallied the fewest steals and points off turnovers during the 2024 season.

Bonner remains a versatile defender despite earning her lone WNBA All-Defensive second-team selection a decade ago. The same can be said of the 33-year-old Howard, who earned Defensive Player of the Year honors in 2019. Cunningham has been lauded for her toughness and ability to guard multiple positions. The Fever also brought in Brianna Turner - a two-time WNBA All-Defensive first-team member - on a one-year deal worth slightly more than the veteran minimum. Turner likely won't play heavy minutes, but her shot-blocking and ability to play the four or five could be an asset in certain matchups.

"We have the deepest team probably that I've ever been a part of," White told reporters at media day. "It takes everybody and it takes sacrifice. There are players who probably should be in (the) rotation that might not be at times. ...

"Everybody's gonna have to sacrifice at some point for us to be as good as we can be. And so if you talk to people who've won championships, they talk about being stars in your role. They talk about playing outside of position. They talk about not being in rotation. We have players on our team that have won championships that have done just that."

Indiana's no longer flying under the radar, as Clark's rapid ascension put the Fever in position to aggressively pursue a title in just her second season.

The pressure is now on White and the players to deliver on those heightened expectations.

"We understand the spotlight," Clark said. "We understand people expect this team to win, and that's exactly what we want to do for our fans and for this organization. ... I wouldn't want it any other way.

"We get to show up every single night and there's people cheering for us. You get to play the game you love. If there is that pressure ... I think that's just something you embrace. That's always what I've always tried to remind myself over the course of my career. You just rise to the occasion because you wouldn't want it any other way."