Aliyah Boston and Caitlin Clark comprise a formidable first-overall pick pair in Indiana, and, according to Boston, it’s only getting more formidable.
The Indiana Fever are looking to take another step forward after making the playoffs last season. While the team signed key free agents like Natasha Howard and DeWanna Bonner, it’s player development from their core nucleus of Clark, Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell that might be the most important ingredient in getting the team back to the WNBA Finals for the first time since 2015.
Aliyah Boston has strong praise for Caitlin Clark’s physicality
Boston, the first overall pick in 2023 out of South Carolina, pointed to Clark’s increased strength during a Q&A session at Fever media day.
“I feel like everyone talks about it, I’ll see it on social media, they’ll be like ‘Caitlin has such strong muscles!’ And don’t tell her I said that,” Boston joked.
“But I think her strength, she gets in the paint and she’s able to bully her way in and finish strong at the basket. Everyone talks about her three-point shooting, and we’ve all seen her passing, but I think her ability to get downhill and really just stay on balance and score the ball I think is going to be great this year too,” she added.
Boston has no shortage of ability in the paint herself. The 2023 Rookie of the Year averaged 14 points and 8.9 rebounds per game in 2024, earning her second consecutive All-Star selection with a polished season. With the addition of Clark and a career year from Kelsey Mitchell, Boston added an assist per game from 2023, broadening her offensive skill set to the Fever’s benefit.
It’s more of the same for Clark, who elicited quite the fan reaction, as Boston noted, when pictures of her went viral in March.
Well someone’s been in the weight room 👀😮💨 @CaitlinClark22 pic.twitter.com/yBU8p7tp31
— Bri Lewerke (@brilewerke) March 8, 2025
Known as a long-range shooter, Clark set a WNBA single-season record with 355 three-point attempts in her rookie year. She averaged 5.3 points in the paint per game, a number that could go up this year—raising her 19.2 points per game average overall—with increased strength. Clark hit 62% of her shots within five feet from the basket in 2024, according to Her Hoop Stats, finishing in the 64th percentile among WNBA players.
Clark, who always looks to be much higher than the 64th percentile, has her sights set on a deep postseason run alongside Boston this year. The Fever finished 20-20 in the duo’s first season together in Indiana and are counting on even more from Clark and Boston, along with contributions from their new acquisitions, to return to the WNBA promised land for the first time in 10 years.
The Fever begin the 2025 campaign with a first preseason game on May 3, and their regular season starts on May 17 against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky.