Caitlin Clark‘s rookie season in the WNBA went about as well as anyone could have imagined. She led the Indiana Fever to a playoff berth after the team was 13-27 a year before, and she earned Rookie of the Year honors following a fantastic season in which she posted a 19.2/5.7/8.4 per game stat line. The Fever were never expected to contend for a title and got farther than many hoped, especially considering how poorly they started the season.
While Clark and the Fever got their bearings early in the season, their NBA counterparts, the Indiana Pacers, were on a stunning run of their own. Led by All-Star Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers made the Eastern Conference Finals as the 6th seed and had fans fully onboard the bandwagon. The Fever couldn’t quite recreate that postseason magic, but it’s easy to be hopeful if you’re a dual Pacers-Fever fan given the teams are led by Clark and Haliburton.
Caitlin Clark stuns with bold offseason remarks
Tyrese Haliburton and Caitlin Clark are friends on and off the court
What makes it all even better is the mutual respect Clark and Haliburton have for each other. In fact, they’ve become great friends, as Haliburton recently revealed in a press conference ahead of the 2024-25 NBA season.
We’re friends, and I think that that’s a cool part. If she wants to talk basketball, we’ll talk basketball. If not, I’m totally fine with that as well. But I think we’ve grown a pretty cool friendship alongside Connor [McCaffery]. It’s been really cool to see her growth this last year, and the Fever as a whole. To see Kelsey [Mitchell] get some playoff experience, the whole group, Aliyah, the whole group. So just really cool to follow the whole team.
Haliburton had recently mentioned that he’s in a group chat with Clark, her boyfriend Connor McCaffery, and Haliburton’s girlfriend Jade Jones. Given that the Fever and Pacers play in the same arena, it’s no surprise the two players have developed a friendship.
Indiana fans shouldn’t take having two outstanding point guards on their teams for granted. It’s a luxury not many NBA or WNBA teams have, and the city will have elite guard play for years to come in both leagues.
