The Pulse Newsletter 📣 | This is The Athletic’s daily sports newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Pulse directly in your inbox.Good morning! Hit a fair ball today. Coming up:
↩️ NFL back to college?
Grit: Somehow, Indiana is thrivingEvery year, in every sport, a talented team crumbles due to outside factors. For as much as we value on-field production and statistics, chemistry and mental health are critical when a group of people is expected to work together over a long period to achieve success. In any other universe, this year’s Indiana Fever would’ve unraveled by now. Their star player, Caitlin Clark, has been a “political football” ever since she entered the league three years ago. Another player, Sophie Cunningham, recently fueled a frantic debate about trans athletes in women’s sports. Fair or not, this team has been the subject of more political segments this season than anything it’s accomplished on the court. Which is a bummer, because this team is — somehow — very, very good. At 24-12, Indiana is third in the WNBA standings, five games back of the first-place Lynx. They’ve won five straight games and 10 of their last 12 heading into a big game against the Wings and Paige Bueckers tonight. Clark and Bueckers are already building a new great WNBA rivalry, too.Tara Walton / Getty ImagesSo let’s talk about the basketball. How are they so good, with all the noise? Here’s what Sabreena Merchant told me: 💬 “It’s the backcourt. Clark and Kelsey Mitchell are just really good, and this year is the first time Fever coach Steph White has gotten to work with them both. Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young have been the gold standard of WNBA backcourts for a while now, but Indiana has taken that title.” Strong words. Sabreena also pointed out that center Aliyah Boston is adept from distance now, shooting 42 percent on her 3-point attempts this year. Add that to Clark (22.1 points per game) and Mitchell (24.3 points a game), and there’s a lot of firepower. Clark has been so good that our writers published an argument today for her inclusion in the MVP debate. You can read that here. My final question to Sabreena: Can Indiana realistically win a title this year? “I think so,” she told me. As Brian Hamilton wrote in a great story this week, the Fever have mettle. I’d say so.
