Caitlin Clark issues warning to WNBA with definitive two-word answer about her expectations for Year 2
Caitlin Clark has a simple metric for success this season.
The WNBA star made no secret of her ambition with the Indiana Fever this season as the 23-year-old enters her second year in the league.
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Clark emphatically claimed a WNBA title -- and nothing less -- is the goal in 2025.
"What does success look like?" one reporter asked Clark at a recent media scrum.
"A championship," she boldly stated.
The Fever reached the playoffs last season for the first time in seven years after they went 20-20, but that hasn't stopped Clark and the organization from setting the bar high in terms of expectations heading into the new campaign.
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And it's a realistic target too, given the Fever have made smart roster moves in the offseason, particularly with the arrival of 15-year veteran DeWanna Bonner, who has already won two championships.
According to certain bookmakers, the Fever have the second-best odds at winning the WNBA title at +350, only behind reigning champions New York Liberty.
“Everybody who's been a part of a team, everybody who's won championships, everybody who's been a part of growing something special, knows that a lot of things have to fall in line for you to win a championship. They do,” new Fever head coach Stephanie White said of being a contender.
“That's why it's so incredibly difficult. But we're not shying away from the fact that we want to win a championship, that we want to position ourselves every single day to win a championship.”
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Three-time WNBA champion Natahsa Howard has also joined the Fever, complementing Indy's young core of Aliyah Boston, Kelse Mitchell, and Clark.
"We do talk about [winning a championship]," Howard said.
"But our main thing right now is to get the team chemistry together and just win games, day by day learn and just get better."
Reaching the postseason for the first time since 2016 was an achievement in and of itself for the Fever, but they were handed a reality check after being swept by the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the playoffs.
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Clark claimed they missed a competitive edge last season so the arrival of champions Howard and Bonner is much welcomed.
“DB is the one that kind of stands out for me, like she's won championships," Clark said about Bonner.
"She's here to provide knowledge to our young players, to help us really get over that hump and be able to win.
"And same goes for Syd and Tash, but, you know, all of them are just here to kind of be that voice for us and somebody to lean on"
It's a role Bonner has more than embraced and she praised the caliber of the roster she is joining.
"What's the point of putting this roster together if you're not going to compete for a championship?" she said.
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General manager Amber Cox has echoed the sentiments of her players and manager, reminding reporters that the Fever are a championship-winning franchise.
"Listen, we're in this to win championships," general manager Amber Cox said.
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"We want that to be the standard. That is the standard that has been set here in Indiana with Tamika Catchings and championships in the past. We want to get back to that, that's the goal."
Training camps are well underway in the WNBA with the regular season set to begin on May 16.
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