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The Indiana Fever have been the highest-profile WNBA team the past two years, primarily because Caitlin Clark joined them with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 draft.
The Fever went from perennial cellar-dwellers with a minor fanbase to leaguewide sellouts overnight. They reached the playoffs the past two years, making the league semifinals in 2025 despite Clark’s absence due to injury.
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A lot of WNBA players who toiled in relative anonymity before Clark’s arrival have become better-known. Has her stardom prompted some jealousy?
Fever teammate Lexie Hull — speaking to Glamour magazine — believes so. She also believes that’s good for the league.
Lexie Hull on WNBA jealousy of Caitlin Clark
“I think there is a level of jealousy when it comes to the Fever, just because of the media attention and the fans that have shown up for us ever since Caitlin got here,” Hull said. “We’ve heard people and players and teams talking in their locker room about, ‘We can’t let the Fever win.’”
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Anything that inspires great play works, as far as Hull is concerned, and it requires the Fever to meet that challenge.
“If you have extra motivation to beat us because of something out of our control, that’s fine, if that’s what it takes for you guys to come and try extra hard,” Hull said. “I think a little bit of that is needed across the league. … Everyone should feel like they’re getting everyone else’s best, and I do feel like we get everyone else’s best.”
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Lexie Hull on DeWanna Bonner’s exit from Fever
When DeWanna Bonner joined the Fever in free agency, Hull believed the 16-year veteran would be a valuable resource. However, that connection never developed. Bonner played nine games for the Fever, then took a leave of absence before she was waived on June 25.
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“I was super, super, super excited because finally there’s a (player in my position) that I can look up to that has won in the league and has all these accomplishments and knows what it takes, and I can learn something from her,” Hull said of Bonner’s addition. “And then she randomly leaves, and we’re all just kind of like, ‘What happened?’ We were never given an explanation.”
From August: Sophie Cunningham on DeWanna Bonner’s Fever exit: ‘Be professional about it. Send a text to your teammates’
Bonner signed two weeks later with the Phoenix Mercury, where her partner Alyssa Thomas plays. The Mercury reached the WNBA Finals, losing to the Las Vegas Aces (who beat the Fever in the semifinals).
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at capeterson@gannett.com or follow her on X at @chloepeterson67. Subscribe to IndyStar’s YouTube page for Fever Insiders Live.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Lexie Hull on WNBA jealousy of Caitlin Clark, Fever, DeWanna Bonner leaving
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