In 2024 the league was handed a savior.  A savior you say?  Yes.

The savior was given to the Indiana Fever.  I will admit that outside of knowing that the WNBA had some good teams in Detroit coached by one of the former Piston “Bad Boys” Bill Lambier and that Megan Gustafson had an on and off career in the league I did not know much else about it.  I wrote this article in https://itstooimportant.com/what-is-the-history-of-the-wnba.html2024 .

Iowa Basketball had many good and great women’s basketball players over the years, but I did not follow until I moved to Cedar Rapids in 2017.  That is when I discovered the name Megan Gustafson on the WMT AM 600 morning news and her scoring prowess.  She held the Iowa scoring record until Caitlin Clark came along.

Clark was a different type of player.  Yes, she could shoot layups and also three point shots from down yonder.  But she did a few other things.  She could run the offense. She could pass, just ask Hannah Stuelke about her 47 point game against Penn State on February 8, 2024.  In that game there were twenty-four assists of which Clark had 15.  Clark did not have a great shooting night but Stuelke filled the void.  I remember seeing the end of that game.  Clark was there to cheer her on.

One thing that Clark does is play defense differently.  She is not a hugger, but a play watcher.  She has an uncanny ability to see where the ball is going before it goes.  For a play controlling point guard she gets more than her share of rebounds and steals.  This year through the first nine games she has a +/- of +28. That is not negative, but the style of defense is not one that seems to please many.

What has gotten people buzzing was the three point to win that Clark shot after a pass by Sophie Cunningham against the Mystics on June 9, 2026. All season there has been this downplay of Caitlin Clark by Fever Coach Stephanie White.  Last shots were being directed to Kelsey Mitchell, not a bad choice, but the plays have not been open and well designed.  Mitchell always seemed to have a defender on her.  Prior to the shot the crowd was shouting defense.   It was a Mystics crowd and expected. But when Clark made the shot it sounded like the game was at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianpolis. Pictures later published showing the Mystics coach smiling.  Mystics player Lucy Olsen wit a big smile.  Others on the Mystics bench smiling. The Mystics owner was not pleased and that was to be expected.

What is bothering many was Fever Coach Stephanie White’s cold response and continued cold downplay. As a former coach I let the players who did something great know it.  It helped make them better for the next time.  Now we see that Sophie Cunningham and Caitlin Clark are listed as guarded on the injury report for the June 11, 2026 game against the Chicago Sky and rumor is they may be benched for reading a play and winning a game.  Rules say that this is to be reported by 5 pm the day prior to the game if not a back to back.  As of 9:24 pm the day before the WNBA web site did not show that.

To keep this concise, the WNBA and the Indiana Fever were give the gift of a player that many have said saved the league.  She brought basketball viewers, not that they recognized what the WNBA was showing was pure basketball but some hybrid game.  The viewers also were exposed to a number of other quality women in the league. The new viewers defend their game and player and called out when they see something wrong happening.

It was predicted that the league needed to clean up its act.  It seems there have been some minor attempts at this.  The Fever on the other hand have gone nuts in the wrong direction.  After management seems to put together a good core team then seem to now destroy this gift in protection of the legacy of the old guard.  This was presented to me by who is in management and the bulk of the coaching staff.  Old Fever personnel from the last championship before it all went down hill.

The Fever and the WNBA were given a gift Caitlin Clark who single handily changed the financial and viewer aspects of the league and the team and they were now looking to destroy her.  Very confusing.

The only other time in history I remember this scenario had to do with another gift, the gift of Christ to the people of Israel destroyed and crucified.  Lets hope that the WNBA and the Indiana Fever act quick and stop crucifying the gift that got people watching.  Otherwise there may be a new class of Gentiles which could come in a new league or the result of many professional sports aspects for women, future non-existence!!