How Caitlin Clark has been led by Erica Wheeler through her rookie year

INDIANAPOLIS — Caitlin Clark was in the middle of a high-wire act.

The same passion that helped reshape the Fever franchise into contenders also had her on the brink of punishment. Indiana was in its penultimate game of the regular season and Clark was just one technical foul away from triggering an automatic suspension.

With technical foul totals resetting before the playoffs, Clark just needed to get through the game technical-free and she’d be safe. But Clark is also always unafraid to speak her mind to officials, setting up a 40-minute tightrope walk where one step in the wrong direction could prove costly.

Enter the de-escalation crew.

Clark’s teammates, very aware of the situation, spent all of the game against the Wings ensuring she did not get that seventh technical foul. Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell turned her away from the referees and back upcourt while Katie Lou Samuelson sprinted from the bench after a timeout to intercept Clark from pleading her case.

As has been the case all season, though, veteran guard Erica Wheeler was at the center of it all, time and time again. In one instance in the first half shown above, Wheeler checked into the game for Clark, who was feeling particularly aggrieved about a foul call, and shepherded her to the sideline in the process.

Later in the fourth quarter with the Fever pulling away, Wheeler grabbed Clark in a bear hug to remind her how close they were to the final buzzer and how much they needed her to get there.

While the game against Dallas may have been the most glaring example of the Fever running interference on Clark — and the one that got the most social media attention — it’s not a new role for Wheeler. Throughout the season, she’s been the one to save Clark from technical fouls and has done it all with a smile.

“Seriously, she’s passionate about the game,” Wheeler said. “I know how she is, and I can kind of see when she’s taking it a little further and I’m already standing up and ready to de-escalate it and she allows me to. I think that’s the most important piece that people don’t realize. Imagine if she didn’t allow me to, she’d be even more mad.

“That shows the respect level that she has for me that she’ll listen to me, because there’s moments I’m like, “C! C! C!” and she’ll look at me and she wants to say something else and she just doesn’t. It just shows how much respect she has for me as her vet.”

From the start of training camp, Wheeler took Clark under her wing despite knowing full well that Clark’s addition to the roster directly impacted her spot in the rotation the most. Coming off the bench is a role she hasn’t previously held in her nine-year career.

Prior to this season, Wheeler had started 209 of the last 238 games she’d appeared in. She’s only a handful of years removed from winning the 2019 WNBA All-Star Game MVP.

Even last season, Wheeler started all 40 games for the Fever, averaged just a tick under 10 points per game and led the team in assists. When she signed a two-year contract to return to Indiana in 2023, it likely wasn’t done with the idea of her off-court role ever being more important than her on-court one.

But from the moment Clark announced she would be entering the draft in February, the writing was on the wall for Wheeler. Clark was going to start and play big minutes from day one, which meant the incumbent starting point guard was not.

Many players would have pushed back against having their minutes cut in half by a rookie. Some might have even asked for a trade and been justified in doing so. Very, very few would have reacted like Wheeler did.

On the night of the 2024 WNBA Draft, thousands, including Wheeler, attended a watch party at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. And when the Fever officially announced Clark as the No. 1 pick, Wheeler reacted as every other fan did.

Sitting in courtside with teammates Maya Caldwell and Lexie Hull, Wheeler joined the fans in leaping with excitement before quickly putting on an Indiana Fever Clark jersey and racing to center court to celebrate.

“Erica, from the beginning, knew what it was going to be like when Caitlin got here,” head coach Christie Sides said. “She’s just been someone who’s really helped not just Caitlin but the rest of the team. She really has good information for the players during games.

“It’s a whole different role for her from last year and where she was. So, just appreciate her and what she’s doing for our team.”

Statistically, Wheeler’s production has dipped dramatically this season. She started the first two games of the year as Mitchell returned from injury, but has been relegated to a reserve role since.

Her minutes were chopped in half from 26.8 per night last season to just 13.7 this year. And since the start of July, she’s averaging under 10 minutes per game. She’s averaging the fewest points of her career and the fewest assists and rebounds since her rookie season.

But it’d be hard to argue against her impact on the Fever this season, specifically when it comes to Clark.

As welcoming as Wheeler looked publicly to having Clark on the team, she’s been every bit as responsive behind the scenes as well. Even if there weren’t many options for veteran mentors on a Fever roster with just three players older than 26 on it, Clark could hardly have found a better one in Wheeler.

“I think she’s somebody who understands me well,” Clark said. “She’s always there, whether the moment’s really good or the moment’s not so great. She’s there to help me through it or celebrate it, whatever it is, good or bad.

“She understands how [the league] goes and [she’s] just trying to help me through my rookie season and help me understand how the league works, and what to expect or what teams are going to do. I think it’s been a fun journey for the both of us and it honestly feels like just yesterday when we first met and we were at training camp with one another. It’s definitely been fun.”

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images

In many instances, Wheeler is noticeable without always being recognizable. When cameras cut to the bench celebrating after a Clark 3-pointer, Wheeler’s the one dancing up and down the sidelines. When the players are being gathered on the sideline during a timeout, Wheeler’s the one at the center doing the talking.

And when Clark is arguing a call with the officials just a bit too long, it’s Wheeler grabbing her teammate by the arm and guiding her back to the bench to keep her out of trouble.

For Wheeler, it’s the joking and moments of levity with Clark that are necessary for the serious moments to hit home.

“I think people just misunderstand her,” Wheeler said. “She’s the type that sometimes you have to say what it is. Whether she responds or not, you need to say what it is. Me as a vet and she being a rookie, there’s certain things I’m not going to let her do whether she likes it or not and I think she appreciates that from me.

“Then, with her just being on the court, just trying to contain her in ways that I know she’ll receive it. I never try to be too serious. I try to do it in a joking way so she can receive it and understand me and know that it’s coming from a good place. That’s how our relationship grows. We laugh, we joke and it kind of makes [the moments] when it’s time to tell her something she needs to do a lot easier because we laugh and joke a lot.”

The Fever, with Clark at the helm, are back in the playoffs for the first time since 2016. This wasn’t just a matter of them sneaking in as a plucky eighth seed, either. Indiana still enters as an underdog as the No. 6 seed up against the Connecticut Sun, but one that holds at least one win over every team in the league this season other than the Aces.

And it’s impossible to argue that Wheeler didn’t play a role in helping Indiana get back to the postseason.

This time, though, it had less to do with her scoring and playmaking, but, instead, was more due to her leadership and willingness to mentor the Fever’s new rookie star. Her work as the team’s unofficial Chief Caitlin Calmer this season has been just as — if not more — important than her minutes as the team’s backup guard.

But make no mistake about it: Wheeler has been everything the Fever, and Caitlin Clark, have needed her to be this season, whether that has been as a mentor on the practice court and in the locker room, or as the teammate ready to step in and de-escalate things at just the right time.