WNBA playoffs 2026: After another early exit, what's next for Fever? - ESPN

INDIANAPOLIS — A week ago, ahead of a deciding Game 3 against the Las Vegas Aces, Indiana Fever forward Myisha Hines-Allen laid out the franchise's expectations plainly.

«There's always going to be room for growth, but with how [GM] Amber [Cox] put this team together, it's championship or bust,» Hines-Allen said before the game. «We're all trying to win this championship this year.»

After a semifinal appearance in 2025, a season in which star Caitlin Clark sat out most of the year injured, hopes were high for 2026.

And sure enough, the Fever had the No. 1 offense in WNBA history, averaging 96.0 points per game in the regular season. Kelsey Mitchell (24.7 points per game) and Clark (22.3) finished ranked No. 2 and No. 3 in points per game and were the highest-scoring teammates in league history.

But throughout, off-court drama surrounded the team. Then a swoon in the final days of the regular season dropped the Fever to the No. 6 seed, facing the defending champion Aces in a best-of-three first round.

After the Game 3 loss, a back-and-forth affair, the Fever were left reckoning with a season that ended earlier than any of them hoped.

Within 48 hours of the season-ending loss, another controversy had developed: After Cox issued a strong defense of the Fever fanbase in her end-of-season availability, Mitchell seemed to contradict it, referencing troubling fan behavior and the intense microscope that comes with playing alongside Clark. It was a fitting conclusion to a season of big dreams and bitter disappointments in which the focus could never just be on basketball.

«Not every season's perfect,» Aliyah Boston said Saturday after the season's end. «You're going to have your ups and downs, but we really stuck together