Lexie Hull remembers what it was like playing for the Indiana Fever before Caitlin Clark arrived in town.

It’s different now. The arenas are louder, the opposing players are more motivated and social media is more volatile.

“The most challenging part is there’s just so much scrutiny. People have opinions online, and, unfortunately, that’s part of the job and the role that we play,” Hull told Fox News Digital about what’s harder about playing in Indiana since 2024.

“People need to know that everyone’s human. We’re real people. I think when things get blown out of proportion, when things get really personal and there’s personal attacks on people’s character, I think that’s where it gets over the line.”

When asked if she has been the target of personal attacks online, Hull said, “I’m sure I have. I try not to read comments for that reason.”

Much of the controversial social media discourse about the Fever stems from heated moments on the court over the last two seasons. Clark and Fever fans often expressed outrage at times when an opposing player fouled her or delivered a physical play against Clark without a foul being called.

Hull was drafted by the Fever in 2022 and played two full seasons in a quieter, less-crowded Gainbridge Fieldhouse than the one she has played in the last two years, falling short of the playoffs both years.

But when Clark was drafted in 2024, Hull’s team became the center of the women’s basketball world.

Hull says she noticed a difference in how opposing players started to perform against her team that year, which she credits to the surge in popularity.

“Because of the fans that we’ve gotten since 2024, with the rise in, I think, like, popularity with the Indiana Fever being like a name that people know. … And there’s a million Fever jerseys and Fever shirts. I think, like, as an opposing team, you’d want to win even more because you feel there’s so many people rooting,” Hull said.

“It’s exciting to have that type of following across the country, and I think, like, for other teams, they have great fans and great people that show up for them, and they want to perform for those people, just like we want to perform for ours.”

When asked if she believes games have gotten more physical as a result, Hull said, “I think just the game itself is physical. I don’t know if it’s gotten any more physical. I think social media amplifies a lot of that.

“I think people want to win. I think people just want to win. … [The games] are all physical. … They all get chippy at times. Calls get made, calls don’t get made. That’s just part of the game.”

FEVER’S SOPHIE CUNNINGHAM DROPS ‘NO ONE LIKES US’ TAKE AS INDIANA DEALS WITH ADVERSITY

During a game between the Fever and the Connecticut Sun June 17, physicality boiled into a brawl. After Sun guard Jacy Sheldon poked Clark in the eye and fellow Sun player Marina Mabrey shoved Clark to the ground, Fever star Sophie Cunningham committed a hard foul on Sheldon, initiating an on-court fight that resulted in three ejections.

When asked if she believes her team is prepared for a similar incident in 2026, Hull said, “It shouldn’t get to that point.”

Instead, Hull said she is focused on helping her team win a championship. And she embraces all the attention and popularity despite the challenges that come with it.

“Growing up, I didn’t necessarily watch the WNBA as much, didn’t have dreams of playing in the league at a young age, and now girls have the ability to watch us, see us, dream about being professional athletes. And that’s what’s been the most rewarding part about it,” Hull said of the positives that come with the attention.

She came one game shy of reaching the WNBA Finals last year, leading the Fever through the playoffs after Clark and Cunningham were lost for the season with injuries. In a career-best year, Hull averaged career highs in points (7.2), rebounds (4.3), and assists (1.8) while shooting 36.7% from 3-point range and appearing in all 44 games.

In the playoffs, she averaged 10.3 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists in 8 games. It all came to an end in a 107-98 overtime loss to the Las Vegas Aces in Game 5 of the WNBA semifinals.

With Clark and Cunningham healthy and back this year, the Fever go into 2026 as a top contender for the title.

“Tasting that and being so close and feeling like we have so much more to give, I think that just changes our mindset a little bit,” Hull said.

The trio of Clark, Cunningham and Hull proved to be an efficient and gravitating force in popularity when they were all on the court at the same time last year. Along the way, they earned a mysterious nickname on social media, which they later adopted for themselves — “Tres Leches,” which translates from Spanish to “three milks” and refers to a popular Latin American sponge cake.

“We saw it on Twitter at some point, and people ran with it,” Hull said of the nickname. “It was funny.”

In terms of navigating the attention, Hull, Clark and their teammates now have two years of conditioning in that arena.

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“I think everyone does a really good job of not giving the rise in attention any attention. I think we’re just showing up the same we do everyday,” Hull said.

“Knowing that there’s more eyes on us, knowing that there’s more seats in the stands, all of that is exciting, but I don’t think that necessarily changes how we go about the game, go about our relationships, go about what we post on social media. It just adds to the engagement.”

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SAN FRANCISCO — Fans from New Zealand and Australia held signs toward the camera proclaiming they had traveled thousands of miles to watch Warriors star Stephen Curry play.

On one sign, “play” was crossed out and replaced with a frowning face.

LeBron James instead gave fans a glimpse at a generational star, leading the Lakers to a 119-103 win over the Warriors on Thursday with 26 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds.

After missing the Lakers’ last game, the 21-time All-NBA player returned as the guiding force amid a season threatening to fall off the rails. The Lakers (51-29) ended a three-game losing streak and kept pace with the Houston Rockets in a tight race for home-court advantage in the Western Conference.

“We just had a sour taste in our mouths, obviously, for last week,” James said, referencing injuries to stars Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves and the recent skid. “… And just none of us wants to continue to lose, and then we hurt for our two main guns. So, just a mindset of just trying to figure out how we can be great as a team, how we can figure out how to play well on the road and try to get a win.”

Trying to avoid their longest losing streak of the season, the Lakers relied on James to steady the ship. After the Lakers gave up a 9-0 run to start the second quarter, he hit a contested three out of a timeout to get them back on track. He fed the ball to Deandre Ayton, keeping the big man engaged for 21 points on nine-of-11 shooting with five rebounds.

Luke Kennard had 14 points and eight assists. The sharp-shooting guard has 28 assists in the last three games, adapting into the team’s emergency point guard to compensate for the loss of Doncic and Reaves.

“Talking as a group this morning like this is what we have right now, and we gotta figure it out,” Kennard said. “We’re trying to win games. Worked this hard to get where we are, to be in the position that we’re in right now, and we don’t want to just throw it away.”

Losing James to a lingering left foot injury before Tuesday’s loss to the Thunder added to an emotional week for the Lakers. They lost Doncic and Reaves in a blowout loss in Oklahoma City on April 2 and had to face the NBA’s best team without their Big 3. Jaxson Hayes also didn’t play Tuesday and remains day-to-day after missing Thursday’s game as well.

Lakers coach JJ Redick admitted the Lakers were not prepared to compete Tuesday. He later recognized that an effort to inject some energy into his players by calling early timeouts and subbing out veterans such as Rui Hachimura and Jarred Vanderbilt didn’t help, especially after a heated exchange with Vanderbilt was caught on camera.

“What I told the team today — I think this is important — is we have had a very disjointed season because of all the injuries and throughout the year, we — collectively, staff, players — we’ve had to figure out the best path forward with whatever group is available,” Redick said. “And that’s no different right now. We have to figure out over these next three games and over next week, the best path for this team to play winning basketball.”

Through the emotional ups-and-downs, Redick checks in with Reaves and Doncic daily. Doncic, receiving treatment on his injured left hamstring in Spain, is in “relatively — relatively good spirits,” Redick said. Doncic is “attacking” his rehab, Redick said, but being away from the team has taken a toll on his psyche. Reaves, who is out with a Grade 2 left oblique strain that is expected to take four to six weeks to heal, has benefited from staying with the team.

“I think for both of those guys, there is, like, a carrot,” Redick said. “If we can get this season extended, they can come back and they can play. Those guys love playing basketball.”

Houston won its eighth straight game Thursday to stay tied with the Lakers for the No. 4 seed. Both teams have two games remaining, and the Lakers have the head-to-head tiebreaker.

The difference between finishing fourth and fifth is home-court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but James wouldn’t entertain any talk about planning for the playoffs.

“What the future holds, we have no idea,” James said, “and obviously the past is the past. So what we can focus on is how we continue to get better and better each and every day.”

Lakers guard Bronny James looks to pass under pressure from Golden State’s LJ Cryer, left, and Charles Bassey during the second quarter Thursday.

(David M. Barreda / Los Angeles Times)

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James gave his teammates a scare in the third quarter when he hurt his right hand on a chase-down block. It appeared swollen as he went to the bench. Kennard also walked away from the play holding his left hand after attempting to slap the ball away from the Warriors’ Pat Spencer. Redick joked that the scene made him turn off his Amazon Prime broadcast microphone for several seconds.

But James returned with three minutes left in the third quarter. He wouldn’t give his team yet another reason to worry.

“His leadership all day long, in the meeting, in the walkthrough this morning, just the way he carried himself,” Redick said, “just he really set the tone for the team.”

Battling a chronic knee injury in the latter stages of the season, Curry watched from the bench. His absence in the Warriors’ last home game of the season also put a damper on what could have been another enthralling matchup of two of the NBA’s biggest stars.

Between the artistry of Curry and the physicality of James, they’ve been faces of the league, Redick said. But with the 41-year-old James not under contract after this season, the generational stars may never compete against each other on an NBA court again.

Redick called the idea “dark.”

“It’s been fun to watch as a fan,” Redick said of the rivalry between Curry and James, “and it’s been fun to be a part of it the last couple years.”

Curry greeted James before the game. Now a sneaker free agent after his high-profile departure from longtime sponsor Under Armour, Curry honored his contemporary with a blue and yellow version of the LeBron X iD sneakers.

Bryson DeChambeau had a tumultuous first round of the Masters.

DeChambeau, 32, who shot 4 over par on the day, hit a patron with a tee shot on the sixth hole before later struggling to get out of a bunker on the 11th hole, hitting out of the sand three times before escaping the trap.

On the 180-yard, par 3, DeChambeau pulled his tee shot toward the left and hit a patron in the leg. The ball bounced back toward the hole and ended up settling off the green.

DeChambeau covered his mouth with his hand when he saw the ball strike the patron. When he walked toward the green, he found the patron, gave him a golf ball and shook his hand.

DeChambeau, who was even par at the time, made an outstanding recovery, chipping the ball to three feet from the hole despite being 24 yards out and eventually saved par by making the ensuing putt.

The Clovis, California, native, remained at even par until the 11th hole, when he had difficulty escaping a greenside bunker.

DeChambeau’s second shot was from the fairway, hitting down toward a green that was flanked by a pond and a bunker. DeChambeau stayed far away from the pond, and his ball ended up rolling in the bunker.

KEVIN HART CADDIES FOR BRYSON DECHAMBEAU IN AUGUSTA NATIONAL DEBUT, DELIVERING HILARIOUS PAR 3 CONTEST MOMENTS

The LIV Golf star hit his first bunker shot just three yards, not even nearing the lip of the bunker. His second bunker shot went nowhere, and he appeared to completely miss the ball.

DeChambeau finally escaped the bunker on his third attempt, hitting the ball just over the ledge of the sand trap before letting it roll about 15 feet away. He ended up two-putting for triple bogey, bringing him to three over par for the day.

His struggles continued on the 16th hole, when he three-putted for bogey to bring him to four over par on the day. DeChambeau erased the stroke gained with a birdie on the 17th hole after a great iron shot from the rough left him eight feet from the hole.

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However, DeChambeau bogeyed the 18th hole, finishing with a 4-over 76 for the day.

For DeChambeau, his start to the Masters was similar to last year’s, when he shot an opening-round 73. DeChambeau rallied in the second and third rounds, and he entered the final round in the final pairing with Rory McIlroy before shooting a 75 on Sunday to end in a tie for fifth place.

DeChambeau will look to turn things around Friday, when he tees off at 1:20 p.m. ET.

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