Long before they became household names in the WNBA, the Indiana Fever’s biggest stars were simply kids experimenting with different sports, competing with siblings, and discovering what they loved most.
In a recent feature shared across the Indiana Fever’s official social media channels, several players opened up about their earliest memories in sports and the moments that ultimately pushed them toward basketball.
Caitlin Clark waves Angel Reese away after heated on-court exchange
The stories revealed a common theme: while each player followed a different path, competition, family influence and a passion for sports helped shape the foundation of their careers.
For Caitlin Clark, the journey was never limited to basketball. The Fever guard explained that she spent her childhood bouncing between a wide range of activities before eventually focusing on the sport that would make her famous.
“Growing up, I played just about every sport. Soccer, basketball, I ran track, I did golf, I did tennis, I did softball,” Clark said in the video shared by the Fever. “There’s probably more, but I played a lot of sports growing up.”
Clark has often credited soccer for helping develop parts of her basketball IQ, particularly her passing vision and ability to anticipate movement.
Before becoming a national sensation at Iowa and later the face of the Fever franchise, she was a standout soccer player at Dowling Catholic High School.
Yet some of her most memorable experiences came much closer to home.
“Anything that had to be competitive with my brothers, especially in the driveway, was always ending in tears,” Clark recalled.
“There were a lot of neighborhood boys that would come over and play knockout, three-on-three, or five-on-five with us in the driveway. Somebody would end up getting hurt. Somebody would end up crying. But they were also really fun too.”
Those driveway battles helped forge the competitive edge that has become one of Clark’s defining characteristics.
Since arriving in the WNBA, she has continued to establish herself as one of the league’s premier playmakers and scorers, helping transform the Fever into one of basketball’s most talked-about teams.
Different journeys led to the same destination
Clark was far from the only Fever player who experimented with multiple sports before settling on basketball.
Sophie Cunningham revealed that her athletic background was equally diverse.
“I did golf, volleyball, swimming, soccer, gymnastics, softball, and a little bit of baseball,” Cunningham said in the Fever’s social media feature.
That versatility helped shape Cunningham into one of the league’s most competitive guards.
Long before her college career at Missouri and eventual rise in the WNBA, she was already standing out as an athlete in multiple disciplines.
Kelsey Mitchell’s story centered around family. While she also tried several sports as a child, basketball quickly became the clear favorite after being introduced to the game by her father and brothers.
“My dad. He introduced me to basketball as a whole,” Mitchell said. “My brothers played it first, and I just kind of followed their lead. One day after Saturday, you know how the Saturday basketball games go, we played basketball on Saturdays, and I just fell in love with it.”
Aliyah Boston’s path may have been the most dramatic of all. Born in St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, she moved to the mainland United States as a teenager to pursue bigger basketball opportunities. The transition paid off almost immediately.
“I first realized I could do this profession, I’d say when I was in the eighth grade. When I moved to the States and got into my first AAU tournament, college coaches started recruiting me,” Boston said. “That was mind-blowing to me.”
Today, Boston serves as one of Indiana’s foundational stars alongside Clark and Mitchell, helping lead a franchise that has become one of the WNBA’s most exciting teams.
While their journeys looked very different, the Fever players’ stories shared a common thread.
Whether it was Clark battling neighborhood kids in the driveway, Mitchell following her brothers onto the court, Cunningham competing across multiple sports, or Boston taking a leap of faith away from home, each player found a unique route to professional basketball.