Indiana

OKC Thunder and Indiana Fever Draw Comparisons from Hall of Famer

Published

2 years ago

September 6, 2024

OKC Thunder and Indiana Fever Draw Comparisons from Hall of Famer

For anyone following basketball over the last year, the name Caitlin Clark is among the most recognizable across the sport.

Since staking her claim as one of the greatest women’s college basketball players of all time as part of the Iowa Hawkeyes, Clark was selected by the Indiana Fever as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft. Since joining the roster, she’s not only performed as one of the league’s best rookies but an All-Star level player.

It’s not often NBA and WNBA teams draw comparisons between each other, but when a talent like Clark emerges, those comparisons have started to come through more often.

During Indiana’s win over the Dallas Wings, commentator and Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman compared it and Clark to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

“I believe they’re going to win a championship somewhere in the near future,” Lieberman said. “They’re young, they’re the second-youngest team in the WNBA. They remind me a little bit of the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are the second-youngest team in the NBA.”

Although the Thunder don’t currently have a rookie reaching that status, the comparison does make some sense. Both are two of the youngest teams in their individual leagues, both have found success over the last year. Oklahoma City jumped from the Play-In Tournament to the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, while the Fever have jumped to the No. 6 seed in the league after a 1-8 start.

The catalysts to Oklahoma City’s massive shift were the trio of MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, ROTY contender Chet Holmgren and the ever-improving Jalen Williams. Ironically, Indiana’s All-Star duo of Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell paired with Clark make for a similar enough trio.

It’s a bit of a stretch to compare both the Thunder and Fever at the same level for the current season considering their difference in seeding, but claiming they could both win a championship in the next few years is not out of the question. Each team has a young roster, high potential and a franchise cornerstone good enough to lead them to the mountaintop, it just make take them different lengths to get there.

Want to join the discussion? Like Thunder on SI on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to stay up to date on all the latest Thunder news. You can also meet the team behind the coverage.

Source link

Indiana

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to join BP refinery union workers on Tuesday amid lockout

Published

3 hours ago

March 30, 2026

Press Room

Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to join BP refinery union workers on Tuesday amid lockout

March 30, 2026 / 8:25 PM CDT
/ CBS Chicago

Indiana Governor Mike Braun will join locked-out union members at the BP Whiting refinery on Tuesday morning.

Union leaders said that Braun will meet with workers picketing outside the company’s main offices in the 2800 block of Indianapolis Boulevard.

This comes after hundreds of workers were locked out of the BP refinery on March 19 after contract negotiations failed to produce a deal ahead of a midnight deadline. Since then, workers have been walking the picket lines.

Union leaders said negotiations have stalled for months, and are accusing BP of rejecting their proposals on jobs, pay, and safety. Union members said they are prepared to stay out on the picket lines 24/7 until there is movement at the bargaining table.

BP said it has made a comprehensive offer, and plans to continue operating the refinery with trained staff, adding that it does not expect disruptions to production.

The Whiting refinery is BP’s largest refinery in the world, producing 440,000 barrels a day. It is located less than 20 miles from downtown Chicago.

Braun is expected to join the union members around 9:15 p.m.

The video above is from a previous report.

In:

Source link

Indiana

Is ‘The Bachelorette’ happening? This Carmel contestant weighs in

Published

15 hours ago

March 30, 2026

Press Room

Is ‘The Bachelorette’ happening? This Carmel contestant weighs in

Should ABC air the canceled-for-now season of “The Bachelorette”? A Carmel man who was set to compete on it seems to think so.

Matt Carroll, a 43-year-old Purdue basketball alum and Carmel resident, took to social media over the weekend to address the cancelation of season 22 of “The Bachelorette,” on which he appeared. Public opinion on whether the show should see the light of day is split, but the former Boilermaker forward and industrial real estate broker hopes the footage makes it to air.

Disney and ABC pulled season 22 of “The Bachelorette” because its lead, “Secret Lives of Mormon Wives” star Taylor Frankie Paul, faces an ongoing domestic violence investigations. The network announced the decision March 19 after TMZ leaked a video from a 2023 domestic violence incident involving Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen.

Neither Carroll nor the show have officially commented on the cancelation, but that doesn’t mean he and other contestants haven’t hinted at their feelings on social media.

Carroll’s Instagram reel — in which he struts through the streets of Carmel, rose in hand, RAYE’s “Where the Hell is My Husband” soundtracking it all — breaks the ice. “So…about that,” he joked, tagging both “The Bachelorette” and Bachelor Nation, the franchise’s official hub for news and content.

The reel has garnered comments from fellow Carmel residents wishing Carroll well, even offering to set him up with local singles. Notably, though, some of Carroll’s followers have called for the season to air — and he agrees.

“Trying to manifest that they still air this,” one comment from model Brittany Mason reads. “America wants it the world wants it!”

“From your lips to God’s ears,” Carroll replied.

Another response from him put it more plainly:

“I’m still hoping they decide to air it.”

Whether “The Bachelorette” will air is unclear. Disney Entertainment Television’s official statement only indicated that it was halting the season “for now,” so it’s possible the network could dust off the footage and air it after all.

Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@indystar.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.

Source link