WNBA Playoffs: As Caitlin Clark’s season comes to an end, it’s a reminder that this is just the beginning

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — The championship version of Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever would never be built in a single season. No one, from the general manager to the fiercely competitive Clark, knew that.

“It’s a good taste of what’s possible for this organization and for this franchise,” Clark said after wrapping up the final 40 minutes of her sensational rookie season. “And there’s a lot to hold our heads high about.”

The Fever nearly forced a Game 3 against a far more experienced Connecticut Sun team Wednesday night at Mohegan Sun Arena, with the final minutes setting the tone for a classic Clark storybook ending that has drawn millions of viewers for nearly an entire calendar year.

She orchestrated a mini Fever run with five minutes left on a fadeaway bucket and pass to Lexie Hull that set up a Temi Fagbenle 3, and capped it with a 3 that gave the Fever their first lead since 1:29 of the first quarter. Once again, the Fever took the lead on a pass to Aliyah Boston.

Yet the payoffs don’t come quickly. They didn’t for Clark at Iowa, either. The Fever offense sputtered and the Sun capped Indiana’s best season since 2016 with an 87-81 win at the same place it started.

“This team won five games three years ago,” Clark said. “So we’re a young group, a pretty inexperienced group, but we came together and had a lot of fun together. That’s the worst part sometimes: You feel like you’re playing your best basketball and then it has to end.”

Clark improved as the season progressed from a franchise-record 10 turnovers to a 25-point performance with nine assists, six rebounds, one steal, one block and three turnovers in the final. She played all 40 minutes alongside backcourt mate Kelsey Mitchell and ignited the game with an opening 3-pointer, an indication that it wouldn’t be the poor shooting night fans saw in Game 1.

She finished fourth in MVP voting and is a first-team All-WNBA candidate. The Associated Press voted her unanimous Rookie of the Year. The league’s ROY award is almost certain to be hers. The records, both rookie and overall, fell en masse.

And the Fever made the playoffs for the first time since 2016, a goal they’ve talked about openly after years of living in the basement of the standings as a joke to the league. From 2017-2022, the Fever went 45-147 (.234) with just one season above .300. Lottery picks weren’t useful; they were wasted.

In 2022, the Fever finished a franchise-worst 5-31 (.139) and general manager Lin Dunn brought in Christie Sides as head coach. They earned the No. 1 pick and drafted Boston, a national champion from South Carolina. The 6-foot-5 center led them to a 13-27 season — tying the franchise’s most wins since 2017 — and won the ROY.

“My rookie season, I think it was a rebuilding year,” Boston said. “And so when you look at a rebuilding year, I mean, everybody wants to jump to the championship and bring home a ring and everything. But I think when you look at basketball as a whole, and you look at where you start and where you are now, it’s all about stepping stones. I think we’ve made the right steps in two seasons to move forward, and I’m excited for what the future holds.

“We are on the rise. I think it is important to keep that as a focus.”

The Las Vegas Aces drafted No. 1 for three straight seasons from 2017-19, lost in the Finals in 2020, and didn’t break through to a title with their core group until 2022. The same goes for the Seattle Storm every time they drafted No. 1 back-to-back.

Still, the Fever were expected to be good. Great, even. Expectations were sky-high, even as they trudged through an opening slate of the game’s best teams and veterans. Outside, the noise was louder after a 1-9 start. They came back, became one of the best teams after the All-Star/Olympic break, and secured sixth place at 20-20.

“We got to the playoffs after starting 1-8, and that’s an incredible story to talk about,” Sides said.

There was no doom and gloom in this loss, nor was there an air of immense discontent after the loss in Game 1. Sure, there was disappointment in how they played and how they deviated from the game plan. But this was a learning opportunity for the future.

Boston has a rookie contract through 2025 with an option for 2026. Clark’s contract runs through 2026 and ’27, respectively. Mitchell is an unrestricted free agent who would likely give the Fever a solid pitch to keep. There are key free agents to entice and a deep draft to fill the bench.

“We definitely have the ingredients to have some great years ahead of us with this young talent,” said Sides.

Sides said she will take a few weeks to relax and get a “good night’s sleep and not wake up talking about basketball all the time.” Boston, who worked in the studio for the university’s women’s basketball team last year, said she now has a sense of the faster pace the Fever played and has a better idea of ​​their off-season training plans as a result.

Clark is ready to catch his breath.

“I feel like basketball has taken over my life for a year,” Clark said.

The “Crossover at Kinnick” that opened her senior season at Iowa came almost a full year ago on Oct. 15, 2023. She chased down and broke Pete Maravich’s all-time NCAA scoring record, a mark many thought untouchable. The record-holder led Iowa to a second straight Final Four after the Hawkeyes had never made it before. That same week, she appeared on “Saturday Night Live” and officially became the No. 1 overall pick in the WNBA Draft. Audiences met her in Indianapolis and haven’t left all summer as the Fever broke attendance records.

She hasn’t had time to think about it, and she can’t pick a favorite moment. She’s more focused on the relationships she’s built and the people around her when she made it all happen.

As for her assessment of her own rookie season, that’s also tough. She’s a tough grader and an intense competitor who’s always looking for more.

“I feel like I had a solid year,” Clark said. “But the cool thing is I feel like I’m just getting started and I’m nitpicking everything I do. I know I want to help this franchise, I want to get better, I want to be better for my teammates and I know we still have a lot of work to do to continue to improve. That’s what excites me the most. I feel like I can get a lot better and before we know it, we’ll all be back here and ready for next year.”

The championship version of Fever and Clark is closer, but still good.