The WNBA season has almost arrived! The swish of the basketball, the squeak between the shoes and the court, and the smell of relief patches will all be a welcome sight for WNBA fans, but especially Caitlin Clark. The Indiana Fever star is coming off a 13-game season where she had to suffer through multiple soft tissue injuries that kept her away from the court. As Clark prepares to reignite her partnership with Aliyah Boston, she has made a request to her franchise.

The Fever posted a photo of Clark and Boston at the team facility on Instagram. The 24-year-old was all smiles as she posed beside the million-dollar contractee. At first glance little seemed wrong with the photo. However, the point guard noticed a coloring contrast that she could not help but point out. 

“ABC² has arrived to training camp 🫶,” the franchise captioned the photo. However, Clark did not like how different she looked in the picture compared to the reality. “Plz don’t use filters that make me even more pale 😭,” she wrote. Well, Clark spent the offseason moonlighting as a television broadcaster and as a sports photographer during an NBA game. 

So, she would know regarding the best filters and color settings to use for her. Now, the point guard is focused on being a 100% fit for the upcoming season. “Taking care of my body at this point in the season is probably the most important thing,” Clark said. “Whether that’s recovery, whether that’s pre-court treatment, whatever it is.”

 She has played competitive basketball at the FIBA World Cup Qualifiers but the Fever and Clark are still taking a cautious approach. The grueling season of the WNBA is a different beast and they don’t want to repeat any mistakes. 

“We also want to be smart,” Stephanie White said. “She doesn’t need every rep in practice. It’s a long season, 44 games, and we play a heavy cadence of games in a week. …we want to make sure that we manage the reps and what kinds of reps she’s getting.” That process has led them to load up on guards in the offseason, which has received some criticism from fans. However, Clark considered a different aspect of the process while appreciating their front office for their offseason work. 

Caitlin Clark Praises Indiana Fever Front Office After Intense Offseason

The Indiana Fever front office made some major moves this offseason. They brought in Monique Billings and Myisha Hines-Allen for their front court. For the backcourt, White now has plenty of options. The team had returning guards in Kelsey Mitchell, Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull, along with, of course, Caitlin Clark. 

They further added Tyasha Harris, Kayana Traylor, and Shatori Walker; drafted Raven Johnson at No. 10, and signed Megan McConnell and Jessica Timmons to training camp contracts. While many questioned the team building, Clark has emphasized that this is the best they could do given the timeline.

“I think it went great. You have to give our front office credit. It’s a very condensed timeline, and it’s hard to accomplish things and bring people in to see what we’re all about,” she said. 

In addition, the Fever’s retention involved much financial gymnastics. They convinced Mitchell to take a deal for just a year and a paycut for Boston. The reason being Clark will likely be upgraded to a max contract next year which makes this trio difficult to retain. Then Cunningham only received a one-year, $665,000 deal because of the same reason.

“I’m really thankful for the people who wanted to come here who haven’t been here before, and for the people who have been here before—Kelsey, Sophie, Lexi—for wanting to come back and be part of this,” Clark further said. “That speaks to what they experienced last year, the team we built, and how great our locker room was.”

This is probably the final season the franchise can keep this band together. There are multiple one-year deals because there was simply not enough time to negotiate for more. Now, the Fever is fully focused on the preparation, keeping the offseason doubts in the rearview mirror.