The fact that the New York Liberty are still on a high over their first-ever WNBA championship has not prevented ESPN from coming out with their fearless forecast for next season.
The network has already published its way-too-early power rankings for 2025, with the newly-crowned Liberty unsurprisingly sitting atop the list. This season’s runners-up, the Minnesota Lynx, are ranked second, while the Las Vegas Aces, who won the title in 2023 and 2024, are listed third.
It’s with the fourth spot where the controversy starts. This is after ESPN decided to rank Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever as the fourth-best team in the league this coming season.
Indiana Fever guards Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell (0).
An account that goes by the name “I talk hoops” shared the rankings on X, which prompted more than a few reactions from the fans. For the most part, X users weren’t too pleased by how highly Clark and Co. were ranked on the list.
“Way too early… but Indiana over Connecticut is laughable. Over Seattle? 😂😂” a reaction read.
“lmao indiana isn’t climbing up to top 4 next season unless that whistle keeps its going,” said another.
“Based on what? lol. Indiana at 4 is hilarious considering they just got smoked by the Sun,” stated a user.
“Indiana over Seattle and Connecticut? Let’s be real!” a comment read.
“Not sure why Indiana is that high,” observed another.
“Lol…. Fever as #4….. must be lots of “new fans” voting…..” a reader surmised.
For the most part, it doesn’t seem like the mean streets of X are hating on Clark and the Fever here. After all, this team is coming off their first playoff appearance since 2016, and this has a lot to do with the fact that Clark took the league by storm as a rookie.
However, what is clear is that the fans do not believe that the Fever are strong enough to be ranked the fourth-best team in the league. Caitlin Clark and Co. are good, but apparently, to most WNBA supporters, they’re not that good.