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Fever Standout Sends Clear Message About Stats Decline Playing Behind Caitlin Clark

Indiana Fever player Erica Wheeler addressed the decrease in her offensive stats now that Caitlin Clark is her teammate.

Grant Young

May 14, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22), forward Katie Lou Samuelson (33) and guard Erica Wheeler (17) on the bench against the Connecticut Sun in the first quarter at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
May 14, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22), forward Katie Lou Samuelson (33) and guard Erica Wheeler (17) on the bench against the Connecticut Sun in the first quarter at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

The Indiana Fever improved massively on the court with Caitlin Clark on their team during the 2024 season.

Indiana finished the 2023 season with a 13-27 record, which was 10th best in the league, and they also had a 101.8 offensive efficiency rating.

Once Clark joined the team after being Indiana's No. 1 overall pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft, Indiana produced a 20-20 record, a 104.2 offensive efficiency rating (plus a league-leading 109.8 rating in their last 15 regular season games), and made their first WNBA playoffs appearance since 2016.

In other words, the Fever as a team were much better offensively with the superstar than without her.

However, that doesn't mean all Fever players thrived alongside Clark. Point guard Erica Wheeler lost her starting job as a result of Clark arriving in Indiana, and her stats substantially declined as well.

In 2023, Wheeler averaged 9.9 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds on 26.8 minutes per game.

In 2024, Wheeler averaged 3.6 points, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 rebounds on 14 minutes per game.

While this decline may frustrate some players, Wheeler made it clear that this was not the case with an X post she made on Thursday.

"The LOWEST stat line of my LIFE!
"Not career my LIFE.

"3.6 PPG, and 1.8 APG, 0.9 TO

"…and it wasn’t cause I am not good enough!!!

"May the journey continue 😎," Wheeler wrote.

Wheeler will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason. It will be fascinating to see whether she decides to remain with Indiana and continue playing behind Clark or whether she'll elect to seek more stat-friendly pastures.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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