Three games. That's how long Indiana's season-ending series against Las Vegas lasted. This week Caitlin Clark gave her review of that format, in one word. And the word was silly. I've been saying it since October, just with a lot more words. You're listening to the Indiana Fever Daily Podcast, and it's Wednesday, November 4th. I'm Cera, and Joey's across from me. Coming up: Clark on Kylie Kelce's podcast, a New York vacancy that has people talking about Stephanie White, Aliyah Boston three weeks after knee surgery, and Sophie Cunningham hiring her own security.
Grant Young, writing Tuesday for Indiana Fever On SI, with Clark's words from the Not Gonna Lie with Kylie Kelce podcast:
Next year, we're going from 44 games to 50 games. I think the next step after that, like right now, the playoffs are a three-game series, a five-game series, and then a seven-game series. So I think that probably needs to change. A three-game series is silly in my opinion; it could probably be 5-5-7, or 5-7-7, just so it feels like you're getting a real series, and a real battle between those two teams.
5-7-7. Put it on a shirt. We pushed the Aces to a deciding game and then the season was just over. That's Young's point. He calls the Las Vegas series compelling and evenly matched, says fans wanted at least two more games, and argues the league would have gotten the extra viewership. The episode came out Tuesday. Clark framed it as the next step for the league's growth, after she talked about seeing viewership numbers stack up against Masters weekend. And she's got a track record of complaining and then watching it change. Young brings that up too. After the first-round loss to Connecticut, she was frustrated that the higher seed hosted the first two games, so Indiana wasn't guaranteed a home game. The next year the league changed it and gave Game 2 to the lower seed. That's his history, not a sign the league is about to move. Fine. But the other clip from that episode is the one I can't stop playing. The Valkyries one. Jeremy Beren at Sporting News pulled it. Clark remembered Joe Lacob promising a title in five years or less and thinking, I love that. Then, two years later: do I love that? Because I'm not playing, and they are. That one's a joke, but you can tell it stings a little. She's still looking for her first playoff series win. Beren makes that same point, and he says the pressure on Indiana is coming from Clark herself. One more bit from the same conversation, via Joseph Zucker at Bleacher Report. Asked who's toughest to guard, Clark said A'ja Wilson first, and said Kelsey Mitchell's name keeps coming up when she talks to players around the league. Talking up Kelsey in public, with free agency coming. I'll take every bit of that.
Now the bench. Jeremy Beren, writing Tuesday for Sporting News:
Indiana's front office overhaul might put White in a position to become the franchise's top decision-maker. But what if she is tired of the whole experience?
Tired of it? I mean, who wouldn't be? But don't say that out loud in November. Here's what set it off. The New York Liberty dismissed head coach Chris DeMarco on Tuesday. Cory Woodroof at USA Today then wrote that if the Fever let White go once a new general manager is hired, she'd be the most coveted coaching free agent out there, and he wonders whether she could hit the ground running with a New York roster that's largely complete. So it's an if stacked on another if. Nobody has fired her, and nobody's said she wants to leave. Right. On the reporting side, nothing has changed. On October 23rd, the day Amber Cox was fired, Yahoo Sports cited Meghan Hall reporting that White was expected to remain the coach, and The Athletic reported the same, with one year left on her deal. Beren's piece is speculation, and he's clear about that. What gets me is the quote he uses from September. White on the pressure of this job. She said her therapist helps, her family helps, and she can mostly limit what gets in. But nobody likes to be a subject of ugliness from the internet. Beren ties that to the fan toxicity the franchise has been criticized for not getting a grip on. That's a coach telling you the noise is real. I'm protective of her too, for what it's worth. Beren also gives the case for staying. He writes that the Fever would be loath to lose her mid-overhaul, and that she may have the most to gain, because if she's handed decision-making power, she gets to build the 2027 roster in her image. Clark has kept backing her publicly. And whoever wins the GM search will have the final say on that. Which is the whole problem. Every question this winter comes back to that empty GM chair.
On to Aliyah Boston. The Macon Telegraph, running a story from The Arena Group:
On Tuesday, three weeks after her surgery, Boston shared an update about her recovery. On her Instagram stories, she posted a photo of herself wearing a knee brace during what appears to be a rehab session.
Knee brace, rehab session, and then her dog. That's the update I wanted. The second post had her chilling at home with her dog, Ozzy. Some background: she had arthroscopic surgery on the lateral meniscus in her right knee on October 14th. She hurt it in February and played the whole season on it. And still had her best season. Say the numbers, Cera. Career highs of 16.1 points and 1.5 steals, plus 8 rebounds, 3 assists and 1.2 blocks. Her 5.3 win shares were second on the team, behind only Mitchell's 7.4. She also won World Cup gold with Team USA alongside Clark. On a torn meniscus. People need to stop calling her the third star. There's one new detail. Last week we covered Unrivaled ruling her out of its 2027 season, which starts in January. This piece says her replacement is Isabelle Harrison, the Toronto Tempo forward. So no winter basketball for AB. Good. Let the knee rest. Keep the timeline in perspective, though. The story says it remains to be seen how long she'll need to fully recover. The earlier reporting we've followed said she's expected healthy for the 2027 WNBA season, and nothing here changes that. Mostly it shows she's in good spirits. Brace on, dog on the couch. I'm calling that progress.
Last, a less fun side of being famous on this team. Athlon Sports on Sophie Cunningham, from Monday's episode of her No Hesitation podcast:
Now, it doesn’t matter what state, what city; it’s everywhere. So I’ve definitely hired security, and they’re going to start traveling with me, actually, next week, 24/7.
Twenty-four seven security. For a WNBA wing. Think about how fast that happened. And there's a darker reason behind it. Athlon notes that on Theo Von's This Past Weekend podcast, Cunningham said she's dealt with 20 stalkers, all being monitored by the FBI, and that she wants to feel secure. Twenty. Nobody should have to say that number on a podcast. She talked about it in practical terms. It throws off her routine, so she has to find a balance and make time for herself. She says that's what lets her give people her best energy when she's out, and that being nice to fans matters to her. That's very Sophie. She's still worried about being nice to strangers while she's hiring bodyguards. Then the basketball side. She's 30, coming off her second season in Indiana, and Athlon calls her future with the team uncertain. She's an unrestricted free agent. On the calendar, Clark said on NBC's TODAY on Tuesday, per Grant Afseth, that rosters come together when free agency starts at the beginning of February, with training camp at the end of March or start of April. Wait, February? We've been saying January. We have, from earlier reporting. February is Clark's version, and it's her calendar, not a league announcement. Either way, Mitchell and Cunningham are still unsigned, and there's still no GM to sign them.
Quick favor before we wrap. If we're the thing you put on to get through a Fever offseason with no games, leave the Indiana Fever Daily Podcast a rating and a review wherever you're listening. A couple of sentences is plenty. It's how other Fever fans find the show in November.
So that's the Wednesday file: a format complaint we agree with, a coaching rumor with no reporting behind it yet, and two players dealing with very different kinds of recovery. And Clark's on Fallon Friday night, so plan your evening. We'll be back tomorrow, Thursday. This has been the Indiana Fever Daily Podcast, a Lantern Podcast. For Joey, I'm Cera. See you then.