WNBA All-Star game is heading to Indianapolis

With the launch of Caitlin Clark's WNBA career, a lot of eyes have fallen on the Indiana Fever. They started off shaky but have clawed into a playoff position thanks to the rookie's ability to boost a team up. She got to make an appearance in the WNBA All-Star game in Arizona this year. Now, Clark will see some home-court advantage as the 2025 All-Star game will head to Indianapolis, Indiana.

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The home of basketball

Yes, basketball was founded in Springfield, Massachusetts. However, Indiana was where it grew and flourished in the early 1900s. The start of the Indiana High School Boys Basketball Tournament, one of the oldest in the country, is what sparked this basketball frenzy in the state. It was the start of Hoosier hysteria, and the tournament garnered the attention of the whole state and those around the country.

The Indiana Pacers and Indiana Fever have been lucky to land themselves in the middle of one of the most electric basketball fanbases ever. Last season, the Pacers fans showed up and showed out to cheer on their All-Star Tyrese Haliburton. Now, they'll get to do the same with Caitlin Clark. There's also a good chance Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell will show up on the roster, too.

The WNBA game continues to grow

The 2024 All-Star game had 3.442 million people watching on ABC. This is the most one of these games has ever had, which is incredible. The last time the number went that high was in 2003 when it hit 1.441 million on the network. It's fantastic that these women are getting more attention now, and a lot of thanks has to be given to this rookie class, especially Clark. In her first year, she changed the game so much for women.

To put this into perspective, the NBA All-Star game had 5.5 million people watching. There are still a lot more NBA fans than WNBA fans, but people tuned in to watch Clark, which gave a major boost to the ratings. Expect the viewership to climb again next season. There's a huge chance we'll see Paige Bueckers make an appearance in that game, which will be a whole other ratings booster.

Why Clark was the key to the Fever

The Fever's 2023 season wasn't great. They finished in 10th place in the league and last in their conference. There was zero shot of them making the playoffs. Enter Caitlin Clark, who Indiana drafted No. 1 in the 2024 WNBA draft. The college phenom was quiet in her first few games, but that didn't last. She's translated her skills to the WNBA and is now dominating, bringing her team to seventh place and giving them a playoff shot.

So, what did Clark do to turn things around? Outside of scoring, it's her ball movement that has changed this team. She's putting her teammates in positions to score without much struggle. Her passes have been absolute dimes this season. Yes, her turnover rate is high, but a lot of those passes connected well and were fumbled by whoever she was passing to.

When the season first started, it looked like the Fever had already decided to roll over and play dead. They started with a 1-8 record, but Clark wasn't heating up yet. The game that changed things was a win over the Seattle Storm, where Clark had 20 points and nine assists to go along with Nalyssa Smith's 23 points and 10 rebounds. From here, Indiana put up some fantastic performances and now has a shot of being a contender.

Article originally written by Elizabeth Della Piana