The ties that bind: The WNBA's Fever and NBA's Pacers are more than just neighbors in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS – Caitlin Clark is doubly disappointed about how the NBA Finals are going right now.

One, the Indiana Pacers lost Game 4.

Two, Clark can’t be there for Game 6.

Clark and the Indiana Fever have a good reason for why they won’t be at the Pacers’ last home game of the season on Thursday, when Indiana — which will be either up 3-2 or down 3-2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder by then, depending how Game 5 on Monday goes — plays host to Game 6 of the NBA Finals.

The Fever will be at Golden State that night, playing the expansion Valkyries.

“I was hoping they'd win it in five,” Clark said.

That can't happen now. But somehow, some way, the Fever will be paying some sort of attention to what’s going on at home Thursday night. The Pacers and Fever aren’t just neighbors. They’re basically basketball family. They have the same ownership, play their games in the same building, cross paths with the other all the time.

And they rave about one another, with players from one team almost always cheering on the other.

“I think young kids, if you watch basketball, you turn on and watch the Pacers,” Clark said. “It’s unselfish. They play for each other. They play fast. They play up-tempo. They do things the right way. Whether you’re a starter or whether you’re coming off the bench, you’re giving everything you can to your team. It’s really fun to watch.”

Much has been made of how this is a special time for basketball in basketball-mad Indianapolis, and the Pacers and Fever are both reveling in it.

The Pacers played host to the 2024 NBA All-Star Game and went to the Eastern Conference finals last season. The Fever flipped how many people think about the WNBA last season in Clark’s rookie year, with swarms flocking to their games — home and away — to see the former Iowa star play. There’s the NBA Finals going on now. The WNBA All-Star Game is coming to Indy this summer, and it’s not hard to envision Clark and the Fever making a deep playoff run of their own this year.

“She’s an incredible player, someone that I have a ton of respect for, also a good person,” Pacers guard T.J. McConnell said. “I’ve been following her career, especially when she got drafted by the Fever. We all are happy to have her in Indy. It’s been fun to watch.”

Clark and Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton are close friends, and that’s just one of the many real and deep ties between the franchises. It’s not a big deal to see Pacers players at Fever games; it always happens. It’s not a big deal to see Fever players at Pacers games; they’re always there, too.

“It’s been amazing watching the Pacers,” Fever guard Sophie Cunningham said. “They’re so much fun to watch. I think we resemble their team quite a bit in the way we move the ball and the way we’re trying to play.”

Fever coach Stephanie White played her high school and college basketball in the state of Indiana, then spent the bulk of her WNBA playing career with the Fever. Nobody needs to explain to her what the game means in the state.

“I was here the last time the Pacers were in the finals, back in 2000,” White said. “I remember being in the building and just feeling all that energy. It’s exciting. There’s no better place, the epicenter of basketball in Indiana and Indianapolis.”

She sees some parallels between how the Pacers built a contender and how the Fever are trying to become one again.

“The way that they’ve built and rebuilt with the roster, the patience that they’ve shown in the roster and in roster movement, the adversity that they faced early in the year,” White said. “They were this fast, exciting offensive team a year ago to being a solid defensive team that has won regular-season games and playoff games for them when the offense wasn’t really flowing.”

Soon, the Fever will be the only game in town again. The NBA season is nearly over. There are either two or three games left. And then, the Pacers will take their seats in the crowd to watch the Fever for the next few weeks.

Clark made it clear: The teams really do get a benefit from being around the other.

“More than anything they’re just really good people,” Clark said. “They’re good guys. So, I’ve been really fortunate to be here during this time.”

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