INDIANAPOLIS -- A week ago, ahead of a deciding Game 3 against the Las Vegas Aces, Indiana Fever forward Myisha Hines-Allen laid out the franchise's expectations plainly.
"There's always going to be room for growth, but with how [GM] Amber [Cox] put this team together, it's championship or bust," Hines-Allen said before the game. "We're all trying to win this championship this year."
After a semifinal appearance in 2025, a season in which star Caitlin Clark sat out most of the year injured, hopes were high for 2026.
And sure enough, the Fever had the No. 1 offense in WNBA history, averaging 96.0 points per game in the regular season. Kelsey Mitchell (24.7 points per game) and Clark (22.3) finished ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in points per game and were the highest-scoring teammates in league history.
But throughout, off-court drama surrounded the team. Then a swoon in the final days of the regular season dropped the Fever to the No. 6 seed, facing the defending champion Aces in a best-of-three first round.
After the Game 3 loss, a back-and-forth affair, the Fever were left reckoning with a season that ended earlier than any of them hoped.
Within 48 hours of the season-ending loss, another controversy had developed: After Cox issued a strong defense of the Fever fanbase in her end-of-season availability, Mitchell seemed to contradict it, referencing troubling fan behavior and the intense microscope that comes with playing alongside Clark. It was a fitting conclusion to a season of big dreams and bitter disappointments in which the focus could never just be on basketball.
"Not every season's perfect," Aliyah Boston said Saturday after the season's end. "You're going to have your ups and downs, but we really stuck together through it all. Like no matter what. Obviously, when you look back at games that you wish that you didn't drop early, and maybe that would have been a difference. ... But here we are, right? There's nothing we can do right now."
ON THE COURT, at least one half of the Fever's plan went perfectly.
The offense was formidable, and Clark's return went better than anyone could have hoped. Mitchell set the league record for the most points scored (1,086) and the most 3-point field goals (135) while scoring 20-plus points in a WNBA-record 27 consecutive games. Boston was an All-Star for the fourth consecutive year with a career-high 16.1 points per game, grabbed 8.0 rebounds and extended her range beyond the 3-point line and shot 40.6%.
Clark was the first player in the history of the league to score 40-plus points with 10-plus assists in a single game; her five games of 30-plus points and 10-plus assists this season are more than any other player in league history combined. She became the league's first player to record 800-plus points and 300-plus assists in a single season.
Clark called 2026 one of the most fulfilling years of her career. She played more basketball than ever as she rehabbed. She played in Team USA camps, 40 regular-season games and was selected for the FIBA World Cup team that won gold in September. A worrisome back issue flared up early in the season but proved not to be a long-term issue. The defensive part of her game was highly criticized early in the season as teams specifically targeted her, but even that improved incrementally. A sneaky midrange game began to appear as the season went on to complement the drives to the basket and the step-back 3s.
Clark's first signature shoe with Nike, the Caitlin 1, released last week.
"I didn't play much last year, but I was able to come out here and put together the best season I've had," Clark said, "and perform at a really high level and basically get better in every area and still feel like I have so many areas to improve.
"I guess that's the most exciting part moving forward."
The old saying, though, goes that defense wins championships, and that was the problem all season for the Fever. They ranked No. 11 in points allowed per game (90.4) and No. 8 in defensive rating (108.3). The Aces scored 102 and 94 in Game 1 and 3 victories to eliminate Indiana.
And off the court, the Fever were constantly barraged with distractions or drama. For much of the season, it felt like those 40 minutes between the lines -- win or lose -- were the most peaceful, normal times of the summer for this group.
"Obviously, we weathered a lot," Clark said. "There's always so much outside noise and a microscope of how we perform every single day, and a lot of really good moments, a lot of tough moments, too."
SINCE CLARK WAS drafted No. 1 in 2024, the Fever have had an inordinate amount of attention on the organization from both WNBA fans and entities that rarely paid attention to the league in the past. Clark's name was recently, and randomly, brought up in the middle of a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing.
It's been a boon for the Fever, who have become the most popular team in the league thanks in large part to her fame -- quickly acknowledged by all those around the team, including Cox.
"The other piece about Caitlin that I never want to take for granted is just what she has meant to our team, what she has meant to the league, and what she's meant to women's basketball," she said. "She remains the tipping point. You look at the ratings and you look at the full buildings, that started in 2024 when she came into the league, and that is because of Caitlin Clark."
But it can also lead to increased scrutiny on Clark and the rest of the team, as happened multiple times this season.
In June, the relationship between Stephanie White and Clark was questioned after the coach was seen in an animated discussion with the point guard during a 16-point loss to the Portland Fire. Both downplayed it as two competitive people in the heat of the moment. Clark and assistant coach Briann January also had fiery interactions on the sideline that begat questions regarding the franchise player and the coaching staff.
The focus on the Fever's play -- and White -- continued throughout the season. Then, in June, Sophie Cunningham kicked off another round of headlines for the Fever. Cunningham, a popular personality on social media and her podcast, has no problem being an agitator. T-shirts featuring her pointing at DeWanna Bonner after a heated game against the Phoenix Mercury in June became a hot commodity at Fever games at home and on the road.
But one moment affected not only the Fever, but the entire league. In an ESPN article published in July, Cunningham discussed, among other things, how to "protect women's sports" and said: "I got a lot of negative feedback about me hating trans. And I'm like, 'I never once said that.' I think that I am here to extend love. But I also think with that love is truth, being honest. And I want to protect young girls in a locker room, or young girls in sport who shouldn't have to go against biological men."
It became a seasonlong topic with coaches and players being asked their opinions around the league. Protests both for and against began forming outside arenas when the Fever would play on the road. Seattle Storm co-owner Celeste Keaton was suspended from attending five home games after her exchange with a pair of fans who brought signs into Climate Pledge Arena supporting Cunningham with the Fever in town for a road game in late July.
All these issues and more -- 11 Republican lawmakers sent WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert a letter in July demanding the league take "accountability" for "multiple attacks" against Clark -- came to a head just after the All-Star break.
In a game on Aug. 8, Cunningham took a hit around the head and neck on a fast-break layup from DiJonai Carrington. The particularly hard contact started a dustup on the court; Carrington was issued a flagrant 2 and ejected from the game. Moments later, Carrington posted on her Threads account: "WHITE PRIVILEGE @indianafever." Postgame, White acknowledged it was a hard foul, but said she didn't think Carrington intentionally went for the neck.
Fever fans accused White of not supporting her players. Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith tweeted, "Ok... The @IndianaFever need to let Stephanie White go. No solid coach would ever take the side of the opposing team's player who committed a flagrant foul on one of your own players. Terrible coaching! The Fever need to defend their players."
During the next home game, on Aug. 11 against the New York Liberty, boos rained down on Gainbridge Arena. The disdain was focused on White during pregame introductions. Before that game, White had used her pregame media session to respond to the noise; team president Kelly Krauskopf issued a statement with full support for White that same day.
"The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's trying to hijack our league will not win," White said before the game, pounding her fist on a table multiple times.
"We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided," she added. "Every day, these women put their ass on the line. Every day, when they go low, we go high. Love will win, grace will win, humility will win, and kindness will win. I stand by them. I will always stand by them.
"Everybody else can go to hell."
EVERY SEASON WITH Clark on the team will have championship expectations, a side effect of having a generational player on the roster. But every season with Clark, through no fault of her own, also brings a level of outside noise that organizations will have to navigate.
That was evident on Saturday, during Mitchell's end-of-season availability.
Compared with her interviews after the Game 3 loss, the weight seemed lifted from Mitchell's shoulders as she smiled and acknowledged that she would be "selfish" in her approach to unrestricted free agency.
Mitchell -- the Fever's No. 2 player in points and assists, No. 1 in 3-point field goals and No. 4 in steals in franchise history -- said the climate in Indiana can be challenging.
"Showing up every day to compete for fans that may or may not like you is hard," Mitchell said.
Earlier Saturday, in her own availability, Cox had effusively praised Clark and ended her session with a staunch defense of Fever fans that have received criticism for their behavior toward opposing players.
"The attacks on our fanbase have no basis in reality, and they need to stop," she said.
Former Fever player Brianna Turner, now a member of the Aces, disputed Cox's sentiments on social media. "This is an unequivocally false statement," wrote Turner, who serves as treasurer of the Women's National Basketball Players Association. "Players inside and outside the organization have repeatedly issued complaints with the Fever fanbase. While it's not all Indy fans, it's certainly a trend. To say the attacks have 'no basis in reality' is disingenuous."
Along with Mitchell, Cunningham, Tyasha Harris and Hines-Allen are all unrestricted free agents this winter -- meaning, like everything in the orbit of the Fever, the offseason could be dramatic.
Cox has said her priority is bringing back Mitchell and keeping the Fever's big three together.
Clark's play has made her eligible for the "EPIC" (Exceptional Performance on Initial Contract) provision of the new collective bargaining agreement that allows players to renegotiate the fourth year of their rookie deal and sign a three-year extension. Players who have been named All-WNBA first team or second team are eligible for a max deal or the supermax if named MVP.
"Caitlin has earned the opportunity to sign her EPIC extension, so we're really excited to talk to her and her team about that," Cox said. "She had an MVP-caliber season, and it was wonderful to see coming off of her injury."
As for Cunningham, Cox said the off-court conversations surrounding her will not impact the evaluation of the player. Through the first two months of the season, Cunningham was considered a Sixth Player of the Year candidate before she cooled over the last two months. Both Cox and White pointed to help on the wing as an offseason priority.
"Sophie's had two really productive years for us in terms of shooting the basketball," Cox said. "She is a really solid leader in the locker room, a great connector. She brings levity, but also brings a lot of experience. She's serious and is an important voice in our locker room when we need it. When we really need to lock in.
"She's an unrestricted free agent, so we look forward to having those conversations. Again, she had a really productive year, and we'll see just where things take us."
White, too, will be part of the conversations about the Fever's future. She just finished her second year at the helm, and 2025 was considered an overachievement, advancing to within one game of the Finals with an infirmary ward of a roster. The past five months have been considered a disappointment with a first-round exit and questions swirling around her job stability.
"There were some highlights, and there are things we never need to get better at," Cox said after the season. "We're all going to get in the room and get back to the drawing board and we're going to address some of those and make sure that we're ready to go when next season starts. And that includes Steph and the coaching staff."
"I feel support from the organization, no doubt about that," White said after the season. "At the end of the day, it's their decision about whether I return or not. I'd love the opportunity. I love this franchise. I have always felt supported from this franchise, and I hope to continue to be the coach."
This all awaits Cox in what will undoubtedly be another busy offseason. A new practice facility is scheduled to open before 2027 training camp. Cox wants to add frontcourt depth to help Boston and Makayla Timpson, and a three-and-D wing is also on the wish list. Despite expectations, the Fever were light on playoff experience and there's optimism that it was gained the hard way. The hope is to continue to develop the young talent, build through the draft and supplement through free agency.
After a season with unfulfilled goals and more drama than anyone was thrilled about, there's an understandable wonder of how much could change.
"When you talk about the noise around this team, I think that's just a product of becoming mainstream," Cox said. "People care. I've been a part of this league for many, many years, and you could have a trade, you could have a bad loss and nobody cared. Nobody was writing about it. Nobody was tweeting about it, and that was bad. Apathy was bad.
"So, what comes with the quote-unquote noise? I would call it just a lot of people caring."