Indiana Fever players get to take the court with Caitlin Clark, but that comes with extra scrutiny and pressure as well. "I don't think people really understand how much we endure, man," Fever star Kelsey Mitchell said over the weekend during exit interviews following the team's Game 3 loss to the Las Vegas Aces in the first round of the WNBA playoffs. "Like, if I showed y'all my DMs about the hate and all of the stuff that comes with being a professional athlete, but specifically being an Indiana Fever basketball player, it's a lot that goes into that.
And those days are hard as hell, man. "Playing with (Caitlin Clark) and having the eyes that she's got (on her), we get a lot of flak just from being on her team. I think that that comes with a lot too.
And I just think that people (have) got to give us grace. I think this organization is unbelievable, man. But I think that when it comes to, like, really trying to be yourself, it hasn't always been easy." Fan behavior became a topic of discussion last week, after Aces star A'ja Wilson got into a confrontation with a Fever fan in the fourth quarter of the Aces' Game 2 loss at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
After getting entangled with Fever guard Sophie Cunningham, Wilson walked towards a man pointing at her from his seat behind the basket. Wilson was given a technical foul for the interaction, but wasn't suspended. The man was initially removed by security, but the Fever's investigation determined that he did not violate the Fan Code of Conduct, and he returned to his seat.
But the interaction reignited an always-simmering conversation about Fever fan behavior, one that has been ongoing since Caitlin Clark was drafted in 2024 and brought a wave of new fans to the league. Earlier this season, Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas spoke out about receiving death threats after her hard foul on Clark in a game became national news. Fever general manager Amber Cox gave an ardent defense of Fever fans.
"The attacks on our fanbase have no basis in reality, and they need to stop," Cox said on Saturday. "I'm talking about media who have never been to a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Every organization in the league, every organization throughout professional sports, all the way down to youth rec leagues, have to deal with occasional bad behavior from spectators.
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