ESPN Questions Indiana Fever Being True WNBA Championship Contenders

Not everybody is convinced that the Indiana Fever will be competing for the WNBA championship in 2025.

Jul 17, 2024; Arlington, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) reacts during the second half against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images | Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

No WNBA team has been talked about more this past offseason than the Indiana Fever. While this was likely always going to be the case given the team's popularity, the fact that they had an extremely busy offseason that included hiring a new head coach in Stephanie White and making several improvements to the roster.

Indiana making the playoffs in 2024 capped off an extremely successful season for the franchise, given that they had been bottom-dwellers in the WNBA standings for most of the previous decade. Combining this standard getting set with their many offseason moves, there's now an expectation that the Fever can (and will) compete for a 2025 WNBA championship.

But not everybody is convinced the Fever are truly championship contenders, which was conveyed by an April 25 article from ESPN posing "Are the Fever championship contenders?" as the team's biggest question heading into training camp.

"They've gotten closer. With a new brain trust -- including coach Stephanie White back in Indiana -- and big offseason pickups, the Fever are set up to build on last year's return to the playoffs. Bonner and Howard are former WNBA champions who bring a huge amount of experience. Sophie Cunningham is another perimeter scoring threat," ESPN's Michael Voepel wrote.

"Clark and Boston, the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year award winners, clicked well last season with each other and veteran guard Mitchell and should be even better in 2025.

"A championship is an exceedingly high expectation, but sticking around for a while in the playoffs is not," he concluded.

WNBA training camps open Sunday. What’s the biggest question facing every team heading in? What will each team’s starting lineup look like? https://t.co/eVDGQ1wcKn

— ESPN Women's Hoops (@ESPN_WomenHoop) April 25, 2025

While it's fair to question just how far the Fever can go this year, all indications are they're poised to be one of the league's top teams.