Caitlin Clark stays Fever’s top ballhandler, but Raven Johnson should alleviate pressure

“It is exhausting bringing the ball up 94 feet versus pressure every single time,” Clark said. “So, we certainly need to find somebody that can handle the ball a little bit and give me a little bit of a break. And I think Raven and Ty and even other people through camp, (like Shatori Walker-Kimbrough), have done a great job, and (Kelsey Mitchell) does it a little bit.”

The theory behind having Clark play off the ball more, Fever coach Stephanie White explained, is to give her rest without having to take her off the floor. Indiana has also been monitoring Clark’s practice reps more closely to ensure that her body stays fresh for what the team hopes is another deep playoff run.

“Ty is a player who’s a combo (guard) and can play on and off the ball, Caitlin is a player who can play on and off the ball and Raven is a point guard that primarily has had the ball in her hands,” White said last week, shortly after Johnson was drafted. “So, I think it gives us some versatility. … I think it’ll give us a lot of different ways that we can play.”

Of course, Clark will still be the main orchestrator of Indiana’s offense, and rightfully so. In her last healthy season in 2024, Clark set the WNBA single-season record for assists and the rookie single-season record for points en route to an All-WNBA first-team nod.

Johnson said she’s enjoyed picking Clark’s brain as her new teammate, though she’s no stranger to Clark’s greatness. The former rivals squared off in back-to-back Final Fours in 2023 and 2024. In their first matchup, Clark totaled 41 points and eight assists to lift Iowa into the national championship.

Clark also waved off Johnson at the 3-point line during that game, declining to guard her as Johnson refused to shoot from the outside. That moment went viral, and Johnson later said that she was bullied online in the aftermath. Johnson eventually got her revenge on Clark when South Carolina beat Iowa in the national championship the following year, but the backlash from Clark’s wave-off in 2023 — which Johnson wrote in The Players’ Tribune wasn’t Clark’s fault — reentered the spotlight when Johnson was drafted to the Fever last week. Johnson said she and Clark haven’t spoken about the moment.

“No, we haven’t. I think that’s in the past, honestly,” Johnson said. “We’re teammates now, and we have one goal, that’s to win a championship.”

Johnson made it clear that she would rather focus on the ways she and Clark can complement each other in the WNBA than rehash their college duels. The bubbly rookie added that her first few days of training camp have been a whirlwind, but Clark has been gracious as they build their chemistry.

“They were just throwing plays at me, and I’m like, ‘Oh gosh, jeez they run a lot of plays!’” Johnson said. “But Caitlin Clark, she was helping me through all the hard times. … I asked her probably like a thousand questions.”

White has raved about Johnson’s defensive prowess, evidenced by her 2026 SEC Defensive Player of the Year award, and her high IQ that was honed under Hall of Fame point guard and legendary South Carolina coach Dawn Staley. Johnson started 117 games for the Gamecocks, reached the Final Four in all five of her seasons and won two national championships.

White said Johnson still has a steep learning curve as she transitions to the WNBA and it may be even steeper since she’s a point guard. But as someone who’s already gone through a similar crucible, Clark is confident Johnson, in tandem with the rest of the Fever’s ballhandlers, can make an immediate impact while Clark embraces a slightly different role that should accentuate her strengths.

“I think I’m the best transition player in the league,” Clark said. “That’s where I thrive. Everybody knows that’s my game. So, getting the ball off a rebound or in transition, that’s probably where I’m gonna be the primary ballhandler more than anything, but getting off the ball a little bit and catching your breath (is beneficial). … I think there’s a lot of different things that can give us a lot of different looks and just makes us harder to guard.”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

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