With the WNBA expansion draft approaching, the teams have submitted their list of six protected players. Although the list won’t be made public for now, there is always room for speculation. For Indiana Fever, retaining the likes of Caitlin Clark and Aaliyah Boston seems like a no-brainer, but there is less certainty around their other stars. While the decision, is up to the Fever hierarchy, the fans are making their views clear about which player they don’t want on the roster.

Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and NaLyssa Smith are other players that the Fever could retain to build a solid core for the next season. Mitchell’s future is up in the air with her free-agent status, but those at Fever seem keen to retain her. Lexie Hull is contracted through 2025 and there are no hints suggesting that she won’t be a part of the team next season. But the same cannot be said for NaLyssa Smith.

Though the No. 2 draft pick in 2022 is also contracted with the franchise through 2025, there remains uncertainty over her future. At the end of the Fever’s playoff run, she removed the team’s name from her Instagram bio, hinting her future might lie elsewhere. Not only that, when Stephanie White was appointed as the new coach, she talked about Clark, Boston, and Mitchell but made no mention of Smith at all. While these don’t offer a clear picture of Smith’s future in Indiana, some fans are happy to see her stay away.

The 24-year-old was a solid performer last season, averaging 10.6 PPG, 48.0 FG%, and 7.1 RPG last season. Right now, she is signed with Zhejiang Golden Bulls playing in the Women’s Chinese Basketball Association (WCBA), and dropped 31 points in her latest outing. However, it seems she cannot catch a break with the Indiana Fever fans who want her out.

The Fever fanbase’s aversion to Smith seems to stem from her antics involving her girlfriend Dijonai Carrington of the Connecticut Sun. The Fever and the Sun faced each other in Game 1 of the playoffs and Carrignton appeared to accidentally poke Clark in the eye, who fell on the floor. The Fever rookie was left with a black eye and her team lost the game 93-69. But what caused controversy was a video showing Carrington making fun of Clark along with Smith.

In the video, we see Carrington reenacting the poking incident while Smith laughs. Carrington yells “Ow!” before telling Smith, “You poked me in the eye,” and she later asks the Fever player, “did you do it on purpose?” Throughout the video, Smith was seen laughing at her partner’s antics. Though it may seem like a playful moment, it didn’t go down well with the Fever fans.

She has faced backlash for her actions and was in the firing line once again when the Fever uploaded an Instagram post that is now deleted which new HC Stephanie White surrounded by 6 players in an animated drawing. The players included Clark, Mitchell, Boston, Hull, Smith, and Temi Fagbenl. When the post found its way to X, many fans called for Smith to be transferred.

This turned out to be the case again when Fever uploaded a post on X about Smith’s exploits in China.

ever fans still don’t want NaLyssa Smith back in 2025 with Caitlin Clark

Thanksgiving has begun in true sports style – a good performance dosed with even better drama. The Indiana Fever’s latest post on NaLyssa Smith seemed innocently aimed at praising their star player in her overseas performance but that’s not how the fans are taking it.

There have long been calls about Smith to be traded all off-season long, with one opportunity in the upcoming Golden State Valkyries draft clear. The 13th WNBA team, set to debut in 2025, will build up its roster with the existing player base in the W. Each team will have a chance to protect 6 of 12 players and it seems Indiana fans don’t want NaLyssa Smith to be one of the protected.

One fan posted that she was trying to get herself “Getting her trade value up I see what you’re doing😭” Last month when Fever posted her season highlights, Smith reshared the tweet and wrote, “not too bad 4 a scrub.” While it is unclear what the tweet meant, her future remains undecided.

Under Fever’s latest post, another fan wrote, “Trade her to china,” while another chimed in with, “Umm on behalf of Fever fans, can she stay there please. We should leave them where they’re good at 👀Thank you ✌🏻”. Back in October, Fever President of Basketball Operations Kelly Krauskopf addressed the future of NaLyssa Smith.

She said, “I’m not going to tell you I know exactly what her future looks like,” Krauskopf said. “She’s a part of our team right now, and she’s an important part of the team, so she’s a tremendous talent. She’s was a big part of how the team got to where they got to this year.” This came after Smith expressed her frustrations as Temi Fagbenle replaced her in the starting lineup and her minutes were reduced.

“I feel like I didn’t get to do as much as I wanted to do. I didn’t get to contribute as much as I want to contribute,” she said during the Fever exit interviews in September.

Still, some fans want her out, “Umm on behalf of Fever fans, can she stay there please. We should leave them where they’re good at 👀Thank you ✌🏻”. Another echoed similar sentiments at the Fever page posting about their player overseas, “Thanks GREAT Stay in Zhejiang NaLyssa!”

One instance of where Smith has seemingly ignited fans deliberately was when one supporter at the beginning of November wrote, “Fever fans having smoke for NaLyssa is so odd. I have not seen one actual solid reason lmao”. Smith replied to that with  “DAWG!!! 🤣🤣” but both responses since then have been deleted.

Another X user then wrote, “REAL Fever fans do not. We love you.” To which the Fever player responded, “& i love yall too <3”  It is not as if the entire fanbase is rallying against NaLyssa Smith, but there remains discord within some fans.

It remains to be seen what Indiana will do with calls for her to be traded by a certain section of fans, but given her potential, it’s unlikely that she will get traded this year.