If you thought basketball surprises couldn’t get any stranger, think again. The Indiana Fever just signed a player they barely knew. “We’ve seen Odyssey [Sims] in this league, and we know what she does. Kyra is a little more unfamiliar,” Coach White said after bringing Kyra Lambert in on a 7-day hardship contract. “So we’re trying to find the best positions to put her in.” Tough times, clearly, call for extreme measures.

With Sydney Colson and Aari McDonald out for the season with a knee injury and a bone injury, respectively, the Indiana Fever were desperate for reinforcements against Phoenix. They signed Odyssey Sims, a veteran with 11 years of solid experience. But their second addition? A player who has played exactly zero WNBA games before.

Interestingly, this was a signing that Coach White says wasn’t even on their radar. When asked if Kyra Lambert had been considered before this move or during earlier hardship signings, White replied bluntly – “No.” So, now, with curiosity building around the 28-year-old guard, it’s time to get to know her.

• Lambert spent five seasons at Duke, tallying 630 points and 245 assists in 95 games while earning both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Her college journey, however, was far from smooth. Back-to-back ACL injuries wiped out her junior and senior years.
• She tore her ACL for the first time in the first round of the 2017 NCAA Tournament as a sophomore, which sidelined her for her entire junior season. She made her return in 2018-19 and was named a preseason candidate for the Nancy Lieberman Award for the nation’s top point guard, only to suffer another ACL tear in the preseason that ended her year before it even started.
• Through those grueling times, it was her faith that kept her moving forward. “My faith in God kept me going. I literally would not be where I am today without Him. Each injury brought different and tougher challenges, but I knew God had more in store. The village around me was continually praying, supporting, and encouraging me throughout the process and I am so grateful for them. There were times I wanted to stop and move on to whatever was next, but God put it on my heart to keep going,” Lambert told Swish Appeal, highlighting just how important her faith has been in her journey.
• In her final collegiate season, Kyra returned home to play for the University of Texas, earning a second master’s degree in Sports Management while helping the team reach the Elite Eight in the NCAA Tournament. She went undrafted in the WNBA, but has since built a solid career overseas in abroad.
• Caitlin Clark’s newest teammate has spent her entire professional career overseas. Kyra has played in seven different countries, including Turkey, Slovakia, New Zealand, France, Latvia, Mexico, and Greece. Her time in Europe has been especially impressive. She’s coming off a championship run in the Greek A1 League with Olympiacos, where she averaged 15.4 points on 42.1% shooting, along with 6.2 assists and 1.5 steals.
• While this will be her first time playing in front of such a massive crowd at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Lambert isn’t entirely new to big matchups. During her stint in Turkey in 2024, she faced off against current teammate Natasha Howard, as well as other WNBA stars like Julie Allemand and Gabby Williams. She even went head-to-head with Juste Jocyte, who’s set to join the Valkyries next season.
• She’ll be wearing the number 15 jersey for the Fever, a number previously worn by Tan White, Teaira McCowan, and the late Nikki McCray.
• Kyra views basketball as more than just a game. For her, it’s a tool for creating change. Her influence extends far beyond her on-court achievements, which is driven by her passion for serving others and inspiring the next generation. Partnering with 318 Sports as their program coordinator, she works to empower talented athletes to unlock their potential. For Kyra, access to resources and knowledge comes with a responsibility to share them. “Who are we not to share that and give back to the next generation?” she said in a statement released by 318 Sports.

While her resume certainly proved she had the talent to play in the W, that wasn’t the only reason the Fever made the bold move to sign her. Coach White broke down why the Fever chose this unexpected signing over adding another veteran presence to the roster.

Stephanie White reveals the real reason to sign Kyra Lambert

It is indeed quite interesting to see the Fever sign a player with a history of multiple ACL injuries to replace the outgoing injured players. Doubts remain about her ability to get used to the physicality of the league. Yes, a 7-day contract isn’t a risky contract for the Fever, but with an 18-15 record and the regular season soon to end, people are bound to have questions. Well, Coach White has her solid answers.

“I think number one, her preparation. From the initial phone call that Amber [Cox] and Kelly [Krauskopf] had, to our conversations. She has been watching the team, she’s studying what we’re doing, studying how we’ve played opponents on both ends, what we’ve done to attack, what we’ve done on the defensive end,” she said.

How often do you see a player picked because she knows everything about the team? Pretty rare! But it definitely makes for an interesting twist. It’ll be worth watching how many minutes Kyra Lambert gets against the Mystics and whether she can impress the organization enough to earn an end-of-season contract.

What do you think of this “creative” move by the Indiana Fever? Share your thoughts in the comments below!