Pacers players Tyrese Haliburton, Myles Turner plus coach Rick Carlisle discuss Indiana Fever, Caitlin Clark season

INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark are the talk of the town in Indianapolis, and that extends to the NBA team they share an area with.

The Indiana Pacers also call Gainbridge Fieldhouse home. Both teams showed tremendous growth in 2024 — the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time in a decade while the Fever earned a postseason spot — somewhere they haven’t been since 2016. Basketball is ascending in the Circle City.

Both groups support each other. Many Fever players attended Pacers playoff games in the spring, and several Pacers players were courtside for Fever action in the fall. Clark was on her Rookie of the Year run with the likes of Tyrese Haliburton, Obi Toppin, Aaron Nesmith, Rick Carlisle, and Myles Turner watching.

Last week, Clark and the Fever were eliminated from the playoffs. They fell 0-2 to the Connecticut Sun, and Game 2 came down to the wire. Their season ended earlier than they hoped.

Now, it’s time for the Pacers to take center stage. With the blue and gold holding media day on Monday, some members of the team shared their thoughts on the Fever’s season and success.

“What the Fever did this year, that was incredible. As someone who’s been going to Fever games for the past 10 years now, just the environment that was in there, the new life that was in there, was incredible,” Turner said. “And something that’s only going to grow. For a team that wasn’t even in contention for the playoffs to come through and get to that first round and have that experience with three younger players was fun to watch.”

The Fever went 20-20 — they won 30 games the prior four seasons combined. They are on a massive upward trajectory and have the foundation set for a long era of sustained success.

Haliburton went to roughly half of the Fever’s home games this season. He’s seen Clark and company up close often. “I went to a ton because I just love hoop. To see the explosion of Women’s Basketball for a big piece of that… was really cool to see. I went to as many games as I could,” Haliburton shared. He noted that through Connnor McCaffery, a former Pacers assistant who is now at Butler and dates Clark, he grew closer to the Fever’s star. They have a group text together. “It’s been really cool to see her growth this last year, and the Fever as a whole… It’s unfortunate that they lost, but they’re a young group. They’ll be back.”

Carlisle was asked about Clark and the Fever during a recent interview with Steve Aschburner of NBA.com. “I’m a big fan,” he said of the team. “Every arena they go into is an energized happening. It’s really cool.”

He added more on Clark. “Tyrese [Haliburton] always is (courtside at Fever home games). She’s come to some of ours. She’s been a great ambassador for our city,” Carlisle said. “Caitlin has had a great year. Angel Reese [had] a great year. You can make a case that them coming into the WNBA is a little like Bird and Magic coming in in 1979. The NBA took off with those guys entering the league the way the WNBA is taking off with those two players.”

More on the Fever can be found here.