The 2025 season marks a crucial year for the Indiana Fever and superstar Caitlin Clark, whose sophomore run has been halted twice so far. But the Fever overcame this major setback. And what happened next was enough to shake the foundations of the league. The Indiana Fever successfully defeated the Minnesota Lynx 74-59 and clinched their first-ever Commissioner’s Cup title a few days ago.

While the team inched closer to their head coach, Stephanie White’s dream of bringing home the WNBA title, it is not an easy road. After being sidelined for the second time owing to a left groin injury, the recent All-Star update surrounding Clark had fans in splits. The 2024 ROTY broke the league’s record in receiving the highest number of fan votes ahead of the event. Naturally, the league declared her the team captain against the Lynx player and the second-highest voted player, Napheesa Collier.

In a recent twist of events, Nike decided to add a jaw-dropping message surrounding the Fever superstar, ahead of the upcoming All-Star games in Indianapolis. As one of the league’s sponsors, the sports brand inaugurated a massive billboard over the JW Marriott in Indianapolis, featuring Clark. The official sole retriever account broke the enormous news on Instagram with a caption that read, “Nike is welcoming WNBA All-Stars to Caitlin Clark’s city in a major way.“

The board features Clark, who is standing on the hardwood with her back facing the crowd, with the numbers #22 etched on her jersey. The lines below her read, “From Downtown In My Town. Welcome to Indianapolis,” in bold, uppercase letters. Having said that, there is another poster on the Marriott that reads, “The Floor is Ours.” The second poster features the logo of WNBA All-Star event and the globally renowned Nike swoosh.

Moreover, Caitlin Clark also addressed the latest move in a recent press conference. On being asked if she has seen the billboard, Clark chuckles before replying, “I haven’t seen it but I have heard about it, yeah. It’s pretty solid. Every time you get on the JW and Indianapolis, like, that’s a big deal.” While the city prepares to host the mid-season exhibition event for the first time in the league’s history, this recent development comes after the league dropped a major news surrounding the All-Star games.

WNBA Announces head coaches ahead of the All-Star games

With All-Star games just around the corner, the league has already clarified the teams and the team captains. However, the WNBA decided to announce the head coaches of Caitlin Clark and Napheesa Collier’s teams on Independence Day. Mind you, there are more than 10 days to go before the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game.

The verified ESPN Women’s Hoops account took to X (former Twitter) and shared a photograph of the current Minnesota Lynx HC with a caption that read, “Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx and Sandy Brondello of the New York Liberty were selected Thursday as the head coaches for the WNBA All-Star Game. Reeve will coach Caitlin Clark’s team; Brondello will coach Team Collier.”

It is no surprise that the head coaches of reigning teams in the Eastern and Western Conference division standings have been chosen for the event. The New York Liberty is leading the Eastern standings with 12-5 stat score. On the other hand, the Minnesota Lynx have secured the first place in the Western standings with an impressive 15-2, and have been leading the overall conference standings so far.

And to make things fair, the league has decided to let Reeve coach Clark instead of Collier, who belongs to her system. Before the head coaches and players gear up to face each other on July 18-19 in the All-Star games, it will be exciting to learn which 12 reserves make the cut. And from the ones that do, will they be deserving veterans or promising rookies? Guess we’ll have to wait till Sunday.