INDIANAPOLIS — If anyone in Indianapolis is saying they’re bored this week, they’re clearly not sports fans.
“It’s always a really special time of year,” Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White said Friday. “And I think if you’re not from Indiana, you don’t quite sense how special a time of year it is. Pacers in the playoffs, the race coming up and WNBA season tipoff.”
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White, a former Indiana Miss Basketball who starred at Purdue, knows the feeling intimately. The NBA’s Indiana Pacers have often overlapped with Memorial Day weekend’s Indianapolis 500 festivities, creating a buzz around town with all eyes on the Midwest city. And now the Fever, for the second consecutive season, are heavily in the equation.
Their games are as important, nestled in between smaller races at the Brickyard and playoff games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. The Fever will play the reigning champion New York Liberty on Saturday (1 p.m. ET), followed on Sunday by a 12:45 p.m. green flag at the Brickyard for the Indianapolis 500 and a nightcap of Knicks at Pacers for Game 3 of the Eastern Conference finals.
Caitlin Clark is feeling it in the second half against the Chicago Sky on Saturday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
(Gregory Shamus via Getty Images)
Pacers players attended the Fever opener Saturday as part of the sold-out crowd that brought 17,274 fans for the sixth consecutive home game. The last time the title contenders dipped below 16,000 was last May. Fever players are spotted around town now and frequent Pacers games during their offseason.
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“It’s been really fun to support them,” said Caitlin Clark, who called into a radio show last week to dissect the Pacers' conference semifinals win over the Cleveland Cavaliers. She’s an avid viewer as much as a student, crediting their unselfish play, ball movement, energy, depth and defensive prowess with influencing her game.
“The best way to learn is just to turn on the TV and watch the NBA,” Clark said. “I've watched probably 80% of the Pacer games this year. I've really enjoyed watching them. I don't just say that because it's the other team we have in the city. I think they're a really fun group, and we're rooting for them to win it all.”
It’s new in the WNBA for players to stay home and train in market rather than disappear to clubs overseas. That has created a fresh synergy between the Fever and the Pacers, both of which are under the Pacers Sports & Entertainment organizational umbrella.
“Indianapolis is a small-town feel,” White said Saturday ahead of the Fever’s 93-58 season-opening home win against the Chicago Sky. “It’s a small-town vibe. They say small market, but small market means better relationships oftentimes.”
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Clark and Pacers point guard Tyrese Haliburton forged a friendship after the Fever drafted her No. 1 in April 2024. It’s given Indiana two of the game’s finest point guards.
“It’s unique when you look at having a point guard like Tyrese and having a point guard like Caitlin in the state of Indiana, the state that loves basketball,” White said. “The passion that they play with, it really epitomizes the pride of basketball in Indiana.”
And for the first time since 2012, when the Fever won their only WNBA championship and the Pacers reached the conference finals the ensuing season, both are on a realistic quest to win it all. Now that would be a special time of year in Indiana.
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