The Indiana Fever have the basketball world’s attention owing to the arrival of Caitlin Clark, but it hasn’t all been great as they look for their first win after a 0-5 start to the season.
Following Monday’s defeat to the Connecticut Sun, ESPN’s Holly Rowe stated that fever forward and 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year Aliyah Boston informed her she removed X, formerly known as Twitter, from her phone due to the cruel things she has gotten this season. Boston stated she erased social media applications from her phone before the Fever’s game against the Los Angeles Sparks on Friday night.
“I’m off it, so there’s really no worries for me,” Boston told reporters. “It’s just something I’d rather not see.”
“I’m the one out here, working hard and doing what I love. And so I’m just trying to keep doing that,” Boston explained. Just having fun. Continue to enjoy the game and anything they have to say; trust and think that I will not see it.”
The season is still young, and while Boston’s stats have dropped since her rookie season, she remains one of the team’s top scorers and rebounders, as well as the leader in blocks. Despite Boston’s output, the Fever are one of only two winless teams in the league, and many have referred to her as the reason for the team’s woes.
Christie Sides, the Fever’s head coach, highlighted Boston’s poor treatment this season.
“It’s really sad, isn’t it?” Sides stated. “This is the game of basketball, and she is young. There’s a lot of expectation for a guy like Boston after such a fantastic first season.
In addition to Boston, she and “most of our players” have gotten negative feedback on social media. Clark stated that she has primarily avoided social media this season, so she hasn’t read much of the criticism online.
Giving the Indiana Fever ‘grace’
Clark and his teammates haven’t had the best start to the season, but they’ve made improvement in less than two weeks. Indiana’s last two losses came down to the last minute and a combined six points. In addition to wanting to win, the coaching staff is attempting to help the players drown out the cacophony of all the attention.
“I’m trying to educate these boys on how to deal with all of this hardship and the pressure of the moment. “That’s really difficult for a young team,” Sides remarked. “It’s just trying to figure it all out in this moment, with all this new excitement and all these new pressures that are coming from the outside, just trying to keep our circle tight.”
The club has concentrated on having “grace” while navigating the WNBA grind, especially with so many players still in their early careers. Boston stated that the players are continuing to grow together, while Sides stated that her belief in the squad has not faltered.
“We all need a little grace with what’s going on,” Sides stated. “It takes time to build a team.”
Despite the unfavorable words, Boston has not flinched. She continues to trust in herself and the team, and they work together to filter out any outside noise.
“It’s our circle, and we can’t let other people be able to break that apart,” she continued.
