The Fever front office knew what they were lacking in 2024: championship experience.
Indiana, which had been rebuilding and resetting since Tamika Catchings retired in 2016, hadn’t even been in the playoffs since Catchings hung up her shoes. That’s seven years of not making the playoffs — in a league where eight of the 12 teams make it.
In 2024, the Fever finally broke through. They made the playoffs as the No. 6 seed with Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell leading the way. The only problem? Their starting lineup had zero games of playoff experience. The entire roster had 19 total games leading into the series.
Indiana was swept by the Connecticut Sun, which had over 222 games of playoff experience.
Going into 2025, Indiana knew it needed playoff, and more specifically, championship experience in order to make a deep run.
“Most people that win have been around other people that have won,” Catchings told IndyStar on Wednesday. “ … You’re adding players to the roster that have that winning mentality, that can infuse the team with more accountability to make sure that everybody is doing what they’re supposed to do, and that they’re all aligned.”
No bad blood. DeWanna Bonner eager to team up with Caitlin Clark despite playoffs tussle.
Indiana Fever are ready to win now. DeWanna Bonner will show them how.
No one has more playoff experience than DeWanna Bonner, whose 87 postseason games lead the WNBA. So, Fever president Kelly Krauskopf and general manager Amber Cox signed the 37-year-old Bonner as a player who could instantly elevate the Fever’s playoff experience.
The 15-year WNBA veteran won two WNBA championships in her 10-year tenure with the Phoenix Mercury, then spent the past five seasons with the Sun where she led the team to at least the league semifinals every season.
The Fever desperately needed players to show their young core what it takes to win at this level. They got it with the additions of Bonner, 11-year veteran and three-time champion Natasha Howard, two-time champion Sydney Colson, and experienced playoff piece Brianna Turner.
“I think that’s what everybody talked about when we were in the playoffs last year, we didn’t really have much experience at all playing in playoff games… we really lacked in that area,” Clark said following Bonner’s news conference last week. “So just adding pieces of players that have been in this league, they know what it takes to win, they know what it takes to get into the Finals, they know what it takes to win championships, I think is exactly what we needed in our locker room, so it’s just exciting.”
Clark, as she has since she was drafted No. 1 overall in April 2024, will likely continue to dominate most of the conversations surrounding the Fever. She led Indiana with 19.2 points and broke the WNBA single-season assist record as a rookie with 8.4 per game — 337 total. She will be the face of the Fever, and likely the league, for a long time.
But these experienced players also know how to play alongside a bonafide star: both Bonner and Turner played with Diana Taurasi in Phoenix, Howard played with both Sue Bird and Breanna Stewart in Seattle, and Colson played alongside 3-time MVP A’ja Wilson in Las Vegas.
Howard was a crucial part of all three of her championship teams on the floor — she was in the rotation with Minnesota in 2017, then started in Seattle in the ‘18 and ‘20 seasons. Colson wasn’t a big part of the rotation in Las Vegas, but she embraced the championship mentality with the Aces’ back-to-back titles in ‘22 and ‘23.
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These veterans, while they likely won’t have starring roles on the court like the Fever’s Big Three, will be crucial in cultivating that championship mentality — they know what it takes to win, and they’ve done it multiple times.
They can teach that to Indiana’s younger players, like Clark, Boston and Mitchell, who haven’t been in that place before. That mentality, along with the sheer talent on Indiana’s roster, could easily elevate them to a championship contender.
“We have the people to actually (win a championship),” Howard said at her introductory news conference. “I’m happy to be a part of this and also bring the leadership in the desire to show you what it takes a championship. I have three… It’s just bringing that championship mentality to this locker room, to this team, and just guiding his team.”
Follow IndyStar Fever Insider Chloe Peterson on X at @chloepeterson67.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever: prioritizing playoff experience will help young team
