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the caitlin clark "trade" had two million views and zero sources. ZERO.

So a TV guy posted that the Fever were shipping Caitlin Clark to the Sparks, two million people saw it, and an entire week of discourse happened… over a post with NO reporter, NO team source, nothing. People who actually cover this team made calls — team sources said flat out there's no trade. The "she wants out" stuff? Traced back to AI-generated YouTube videos. Not journalism. Content.

Meanwhile the franchise has reportedly gone from $90M to $560M since she arrived (per Sportico), she's on a rookie deal, and three days after the post she hit a THIRTY-ONE FOOT game-winner with 1.2 seconds left. In the jersey she supposedly hated.

Oh and the schedule gods are petty: Indiana literally plays the Sparks June 28. She'll be there. In red.

A viral post said the Indiana Fever were trading Caitlin Clark. No reporter ever confirmed it. The paper trail is worth reading.

What Lin Dunn's Repost Says About Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever Front Office

Lin Dunn drafted Caitlin Clark first overall in 2024. That same year, she posted publicly demanding that the targeting of Clark STOP. In 2026 she called Clark "my everything."

Then, in June 2026, she reposted a column describing Clark's situation as a sitting duck during hunting season — and said nothing after. No caption. No walk-back. The franchise's own championship architect, on the public side of the case that something has gone wrong in Indiana.

Here's the part everyone's skipping: there is NO confirmed trade. Clark is under contract through 2027. The repost is real and significant on its own — it doesn't need the rumors to be true to matter. Full timeline, verified facts vs. rumor, in the video.

In June 2026, the Indiana Fever’s 78-year-old senior adviser shared a column on X that described playing for the franchise as being a…

The Indiana Fever Are Running One Defensive Coverage. Atlanta Is About to Test It.

The highest-scoring team in the WNBA just held a TWO HOUR players-only meeting. Eight games into the season.

And the wildest part isn't the meeting — it's what Sophie Cunningham admitted after: the Fever are running exactly ONE defensive coverage right now. They had about ten last year. One coverage, against the Atlanta Dream — the #2 defense in the league, the East's top seed, and the team Indiana knocked out of the playoffs last September without Caitlin Clark even on the floor.

Atlanta remembers. They kept the whole core together for exactly this. And Caitlin Clark is standing in the middle of it — if she carries this team, it hides the problem. If she doesn't, she wears the loss.

Inside the two-hour meeting, the one-coverage admission, and why the rematch with the Dream is the Fever’s first real stress test.

Indianapolis Built A $560 Million Team Around One Player. Her Own Front Office Just Got Publicly Warned For Not Filing Her Injury Report.

The Indiana Fever are now worth $560 million — up over 500% since Caitlin Clark arrived (per Sportico). That's not a typo. Half a billion dollars on one player.

So when the WNBA had to formally warn that same franchise for scratching her 100 minutes before tip without filing an injury report? You have to ask what half a billion dollars is actually buying.

Clark herself said she wants to play all 44 games. Coach Stephanie White denies any load-management plan. So who keeps deciding she can't go?

Saturday night, May 30, the Fever play Portland on CBS national. Owner Herb Simon — 2024 Naismith Hall of Famer, longest-tenured NBA owner, founding WNBA figure — has 24 hours to show this city he's actually protecting her.

Full breakdown ↓

Ninety minutes before tip, the Indiana Fever scratched Caitlin Clark with no prior injury report. Days later, the WNBA issued the franchise…

Indianapolis Honors Caitlin Clark on Sunday. The Indiana Fever Didn't.

On Sunday, May 24 at 12:29 PM ET, Caitlin Clark serves as grand marshal of the 110th Indianapolis 500. Larry Bird wore the sash. Reggie Miller wore it. Peyton Manning wore it. Tamika Catchings wore it. The city of Indianapolis has decided what Caitlin Clark is worth in fewer than two seasons.

The Indiana Fever spent the same week proving they hadn't.

Tuesday: she missed practice with no injury-report disclosure. Wednesday: scratched ninety minutes before tip against the Portland Fire. Back injury. Stephanie White at the postgame contradicted herself in three sentences and closed with "I'm not a doctor."

Meanwhile $78 million for a practice facility that opens in 2027. The 2026 body played four games in eight days.

The city gets the ceremony. The franchise gets the photograph. The back that couldn't practice this week holds it all up.

On Sunday, May 24 at 12:29 PM Eastern, Caitlin Clark rolls onto the front straight of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the pace car for…

The Sunday That Cracked the Indiana Fever Open

[CORRECTION 5/22: An earlier version of this post placed the Stephanie White arm-grab on Tuesday May 19, paired same-day with the Indy 500 announcement. The grab footage is from Sunday May 17 (the Storm game). The Indy 500 grand marshal announcement was Tuesday morning May 19. Two events, two days apart — not same day. The architecture of the story holds; the timeline doesn't.]

On Sunday night, May 17, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Caitlin Clark walked toward the free throw line during the Indiana Fever's home game against the Seattle Storm. Her own head coach Stephanie White grabbed her by the arm. On national television, Clark ripped her hand back.

Two rows behind the Fever bench, Kelly Krauskopf — the architect who hired White — was sitting there watching.

Two days later, on Tuesday morning, May 19, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway named Clark grand marshal of the 110th Indy 500.

This is the documentary breakdown of how a December 15, 1999 expansion-draft trade quietly wired the Indiana Fever to arrive at exactly this week, twenty-six years later. And how the coach Indiana traded away in that same trade — Sandy Brondello — is now building the Toronto Tempo from the ground up while the coach Indiana chose is grabbing Caitlin Clark's arm on camera.

The city of Indianapolis has decided who Caitlin Clark is. Her own franchise has a two-night deadline to figure it out.

On Tuesday morning, May 19, 2026, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway named Caitlin Clark the grand marshal of the 110th Indianapolis 500. That…

Herb Simon Just ABANDONED Aliyah Boston And The Indiana Fever Have No One Behind Her

Saturday night. Indianapolis. Aliyah Boston walks off the court with a lower-leg injury and the broadcast team confirms she's not coming back. The Indiana Fever lose in overtime to a Washington Mystics roster built around rookies and second-year players. Caitlin Clark dropped 32 in that game. Seven threes. Eight assists. It wasn't enough — because Indiana got outscored by THIRTY in the paint.

Here's the thing nobody wants to say out loud: Herb Simon's front office spent the entire offseason refusing to sign a backup center. The player they let walk in October — Natasha Howard — just put up 26 and 3 blocks for the Minnesota Lynx.

On Wednesday, the brand-new Portland Fire come to Gainbridge Fieldhouse. If Boston is at full strength, Indiana wins this game by fifteen. She's not going to be at full strength. The Fever signed her to the largest contract in WNBA history and then they didn't build around her.

Full breakdown on the channel.

How Sandy Brondello Is Quietly Building the WNBA Team That Beats Indiana

The Indiana Fever lost their opener to Dallas. Caitlin Clark missed the game-tying three. Kelsey Mitchell played without rest in the fourth quarter and ran out of legs.

Meanwhile, a thousand miles north, Sandy Brondello was on the phone.

She's the only active WNBA head coach with two championships — Phoenix 2014, New York 2024 — and she just took over the Toronto Tempo. Two of the guards Indiana wanted this offseason are already wearing red and black. The Tempo's third name isn't public yet.

The kicker? Brondello was drafted by Indiana in 1999. Kelly Krauskopf, who's still the Fever's lead executive, traded her away that same day. Twenty-six years later, Brondello runs the expansion franchise that drafts right after Indiana every offseason. And she's been waiting.

Full breakdown ↓

On Saturday, May 9, 2026, the Indiana Fever lost their season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, 107–104 to the Dallas Wings. Caitlin Clark…

The Veteran Guard Indiana Cut Just Beat Them

Indiana Fever lost their 2026 WNBA opener 107-104 to Dallas Wings on May 9. Caitlin Clark hit 1,000 career points and tied Tamika Catchings as the fastest point guard to the milestone. Kelsey Mitchell led all scorers with 30. Aliyah Boston dropped 23 on 9-of-14 shooting in her first game back from Unrivaled.

And they still lost.

Because the veteran guard Indiana let walk over the winter — Odyssey Sims — was wearing a Dallas Wings jersey. She scored 20 against her former team. Indiana's bench, the one Kelly Krauskopf built, couldn't close a three-point game.

The replacement? Ty Harris on a cap-friendly deal. She barely played.

Caitlin Clark becomes supermax-eligible in 2027. And the same front office that cut the veteran closer is the one that will manage her supermax conversation.

The Indiana Fever lost their 2026 WNBA opener 107–104 to the Dallas Wings on May 9 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Three superstars scored at…

Two billionaires. One franchise. And nobody told Caitlin Clark.

In December 2023, Herb Simon sold 15% of the Indiana Pacers to a billionaire named Steven Rales for $525 million. Rales already owned 5%. The deal took him to 20%.

Buried in the contract — first reported by Sportico — was a single line: Rales gets first look if the Simon family ever chooses to sell.

That was 16 months before Caitlin Clark drafted into Indianapolis. The Fever was worth $90 million then. It's worth $560 million now. A 522% jump in two seasons. Third most valuable team in the league.

Every offseason decision Indiana made this winter — Boston's $6.3M extension, Mitchell's $1.4M supermax, White's hire from Connecticut, Cunningham's return — got co-signed by an owner who's been positioned to take over since before Caitlin Clark wore an Indiana jersey.

Steve Simon is supposed to inherit the franchise. Steven Rales has the contract that says otherwise.

Saturday's the opener. The owners are not watching the same game.

Full breakdown ↓

Documentary essay version on Medium →

In December 2023, Herb Simon sold 15% of the Indiana Pacers to a billionaire most NBA fans have never heard of.

Aliyah Boston Signed the Largest Contract in WNBA History. Indiana Built Around Her Backwards

On Saturday, Aliyah Boston walks out for the Indiana Fever's opening tip under the largest total contract in WNBA history. Four years, $6.3 million, the FIRST player to ever sign under the new EPIC provision.

Behind her? Monique Billings, Damiris Dantas, Myisha Hines-Allen, Makayla Timpson, and Justine Pissott — the last of whom is on a developmental contract limited to 12 of 44 games.

Indiana's franchise just hit $560 million per Sportico. A 522 percent jump in two years. Stephanie White said it out loud at her press conference: the front office spent 60 percent of the cap on three players. They had three weeks of cap flexibility after Boston signed her extension.

They didn't sign a proven thirty-minute backup at center.

Caitlin Clark missed 31 of 44 games last year. Boston carried this team into the second round anyway. Saturday night, she gets to find out if Herb Simon plans to make her do it again.

On Saturday, May 9th, Aliyah Boston will walk onto the Gainbridge Fieldhouse floor for the Indiana Fever’s opening tip under the largest…

Tilman Fertitta Just Paid $300 Million for the Houston Comets. Herb Simon Owns the Most Valuable WNBA Franchise on Earth. He Refuses to Spend.

Tilman Fertitta paid $300 million on March 30, 2026 to bring the Houston Comets back. That's the highest sale price any WNBA team has ever commanded. He didn't need to do it — he already owned the Rockets. The man chose to write a check that big.

Meanwhile, the Indiana Fever — Caitlin Clark's franchise, valued at $335 million, up 273% since she arrived — spent the offseason signing one-year contracts. Aliyah Boston's $6.3M extension on April 17 took until April to lock down. Sophie Cunningham? One year. Kelsey Mitchell? One year. Stephanie White's coaching deal? Short enough to walk away from.

Herb Simon used to be Tilman Fertitta. In 1983 he saved the Indiana Pacers when nobody else would buy the franchise. In 2026, with Clark drawing the biggest crowds in league history, he's doing what Walter O'Malley did to Brooklyn — sitting in his suite and letting the moment pass.

Caitlin Clark has 8 days until tipoff.

Read the full breakdown: [Medium URL] Full documentary: [YouTube URL]

The Pau Gasol Parallel Nobody's Talking About — Awa Fam, Seattle, and the WNBA's Most Complicated Top-Three Pick

Awa Fam was just drafted #3 overall by the Seattle Storm. She is 19 years old. She is 6'6". She is the first Spanish basketball player picked in the top three of any major draft since Pau Gasol in 2001. A 25-YEAR GAP.

So why isn't she on a flight to Seattle right now?

Because she's still under contract with Valencia Basket. Because that contract reportedly carries a €500,000 release clause. Because she ALSO signed with Project B — the brand-new rival women's league — before the WNBA Draft happened. Because Spain plays in EuroBasket 2026 qualifiers this summer. Because the Spanish league season runs through May.

She may not play a single Storm minute until 2027.

This is what international WNBA basketball actually looks like in 2026. Not headlines. Logistics. Buyouts. Three-way contracts. National team duty. And a Storm front office betting that 2027 is going to be worth the wait.

Read the long-form essay on Medium ↓

[Medium article URL]

The WNBA Let Its Greatest Dynasty Die — And Now It's Selling the Name Back for $300 Million

The Houston Comets won the first four WNBA championships — 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000 — and then the league let them die.

Cynthia Cooper. Sheryl Swoopes. Tina Thompson. Kim Perrot. Four Hall of Fame-caliber careers. The longest championship streak in WNBA history. Sold-out crowds at the Compaq Center.

Then in December 2008, the league shut the franchise down. Houston — the tenth-largest media market in America — lost its WNBA team for eighteen years.

Now Tilman Fertitta has paid $300 million to bring the Comets name back for 2027. The same league that couldn't save the original is selling its memory.

Read the full breakdown: https://medium.com/@parquethoops/the-wnba-let-its-greatest-dynasty-die-and-now-its-selling-the-name-back-for-300-million-c482cc89fb1a

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