The Indiana Fever open their 2026 season tomorrow against the Dallas Wings, and the biggest talking point heading into the year has nothing to do with the schedule or the roster additions.
It is head coach Stephanie White’s decision to play Caitlin Clark off the ball more. For a player who averaged 8.4 assists per game as a rookie and has been the primary ball handler for Indiana since her first day in the league, the decision is key, and White explained exactly why she believes it is the right call.
Stephanie White Discloses Her Plan For Caitlin Clark
“I think that certainly when you understand basketball and you talk about basketball, at every level it requires a different version of the player. And at every level, every player is better. And I just think that the way that Caitlin gets played, it’s unique. It’s 94 feet, it’s all the time. And for us to be able to free her up a little bit, we play her off the ball. I mean, you see it in the NBA all the time,” White said.
Fever head coach Stephanie White joins Women’s Sports Now to discuss Caitlin Clark playing off-ball, rookie Raven Johnson and Indiana’s national attention 🔥
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“Now, does that mean that she’s not going to have the ball in her hands? No. Does that mean she’s going to play off the ball every single possession? No. But when we have opportunities to be strategic about ways to ease the load on her body, and quite frankly, on her mind, and get her some easier opportunities on second, third side of the floor, we got to do that,” White said.
Clark acknowledged herself during media day in April that bringing the ball up on every possession is exhausting, and that the team needs someone who can handle those duties and give her a break.
That is part of why Indiana used their first-round pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft on South Carolina point guard Raven Johnson. White has specifically cited this person as capable of alleviating that pressure on Clark.
Kelsey Mitchell, who averaged 20.2 points and 3.4 assists per game last season while carrying the offense during Clark’s 13-game injury-plagued season, is also expected to handle more ball-handling responsibilities in certain lineups.
White has described the whole concept as a compliment to Clark, pointing out that defenses are so locked in on her at all times that moving her without the ball creates advantages elsewhere on the floor. That could possibly leave room for Mitchell and Boston to exploit.
Clark’s shooting range alone, which saw her shoot 34.4 percent from three on high volume during her 2024 rookie season, makes her a key player regardless of whether she has the ball in her hands.
There has been some pushback from fans online who worry about the implications of the change, but both Clark and White have addressed it directly and consistently.
White has confirmed that the plan is to prioritize Clark’s health over a long season, and if that means she doesn’t have the ball for some time, it would still be acceptable. As long as Clark remains healthy, the Fever will remain a dangerous threat for all of their WNBA rivals.
