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Heidrick and East open the show by discussing the big news that came out of the WNBA on Monday — three expansion teams, in Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia. “Huge, huge, moment,” East says. “For the [league] to be able to roll it all out at the same time, I think, is a big deal too. Like, for a level of seriousness shown towards expansion efforts. It’s the right time to do it.”
Later on, Heidrick and East get into the details of Indiana’s recent struggles, and East identifies consistency — or the lack thereof — as a big one. “When you look at, for instance, a team like the Valkyries,” East says, “figuring out a way to win games, beating the Fever, doing these things along the way, trying to find some continuity … it just seems like that’s what’s been missing the most.”
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Hendrick and East close out the show by discussing who has been stepping up amid some of the team’s challenges. “Aari McDonald‘s been the big one as of late,” East says. “She’s not played with [Caitlin] Clark at all, because her time with the team, she was a hardship player because of Clark’s absence.” East then wonders what it will look like to see Clark and McDonald play together — potentially a key to the Indiana Fever righting the ship.
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The Next: A basketball newsroom brought to you by The IX. 24/7/365 women’s basketball coverage, written, edited and photographed by our young, diverse staff and dedicated to breaking news, analysis, historical deep dives and projections about the game we love.
