Indiana Fever is officially back in the lab, and it’s getting spicy already. We know players and coaches were grinding away with extra work even before, but Sunday marked the team’s first official practice. And with a brand new front office, a fresh coaching staff, and more than half the roster flipped upside down, this is not the same Fever team that went 20-20 last season. It’s a whole new vibe, a whole new energy, and well, a whole lot more competition brewing too.
The Fever are rolling with just five returning players from their 2024 squad: Aliyah Boston, Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Lexie Hull, and Damiris Dantas. The rest is a shiny batch of 10 new faces, whether snagged through free agency, trades, or the draft. We’ve all spent plenty of time hyping up how the Fever front office crushed it this offseason, shoutout to the moves bringing in DeWanna Bonner, Natasha Howard, Sydney Colson, and Sophie Cunningham.
All of them come up veteran status, championship or vast experience. Cunningham will likely back up 2 and 3. Howard, Bonner and Colson all three came after winning the title. and in Syd, Fever got an ideal backup point guard for Clark. Perfectly complementing a team looking forward to win it all. But now, it’s time to see who actually sticks around. How, you ask?
Well, the Fever brought 15 players into camp, but thanks to salary cap math, they can only carry 11 players on opening day. Ten of those spots are basically locked in. Mitchell and Howard are the big earners. Damiris Dantas and Lexie Hull are sitting pretty on protected contracts too. Plus, Fever still owe Katie Lou Samuelson $106K from a buyout.
Sep 25, 2024; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) talks to Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) during the first half during game two of the first round of the 2024 WNBA Playoffs at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: Paul Rutherford-Imagn Images
And then you’ve got Bonner, Cunningham, Colson, and Brianna Turner on unprotected deals — which means if push comes to shove, Indiana can cut them without eating cash. Both 2023 and 2024 RoTYs are also still on their unprotected rookie contracts. But before you even think it…they aren’t going anywhere.
So now there’s just one lonely roster spot left. And the five players fighting tooth and nail for it are Jaelyn Brown, Jillian Alleyne, Makayla Timpson, Bree Hall, and Yvonne Ejim. Well, the battle started off in classic Fever style — high-energy workouts, lots of fun moments, and some serious defense.
Head coach Stephanie White has made it pretty clear she wants this team to toughen up on D after finishing 11th out of 12 in defensive efficiency the past two seasons. But you know in between all this what got everybody talking? A little practice blooper.
So, in a video we can see Colson had the ball near her own basket, tried to make a pass… and oops, it landed right in Bonner’s hands. Bonner, who was playing for the other squad, took off running the other way, and Colson looked so frustrated — throwing her hands and freezing for a sec before chasing after the play. Fan believe she was struggling with turnover issue. But was it really the case?
Well, Fever fans were divided. Some said it’s just rust, no big deal while others weren’t so forgiving.
Sydney Colson’s training camp clip sparks a mixed bag of Indian Fever fans’ reactions
It all started when one user dropped a video and wrote, “sydney colson body language horrible, how are you gonna commit the turnover & get mad at your teammate?” They believed Colson had committed a turnover and then got mad at her teammate for it. While stats indicate that while she has maintained a respectable assist-to-turnover ratio, she has experienced some challenges with turnovers, particularly during seasons with increased playing time. For instance, in the 2016 season with the San Antonio Stars, the vet averaged 2.6 assists and 1.5 turnovers per game over 16.9 minutes, resulting in an assist-to-turnover ratio of approximately 1.7.
Similarly, in the 2015 season, she averaged 2.8 assists and 1.2 turnovers per game over 15.9 minutes, yielding a ratio of about 2.3. However, in more recent seasons, her playing time and corresponding statistics have been more limited. So, was she really struggling? Or fans are setting the bar a little too high from the jump?
Because if you know anything about Colson, you know she’s that player who brings energy and vibes even in limited minutes. She’s about building a winning locker room culture. That’s exactly why the Fever signed her this offseason. She fits the bill of what Indiana’s trying to create with two championships in her bag.
Then another comment came flying in, “We paying her 90k and FOR WHAAAATTT” Just for context, Colson is set to earn $90,000 with the Fever for the 2025 season. She signed a one-year, unprotected contract, meaning, if the Fever ever wanted to, they could waive her with no financial strings attached. Her salary actually places her among the mid-tier earners on the roster.
But fans are ready to debate if it’s justified based on that clip. And that’s where another user chimed in, saying, “Mind you…this day one on a 15sec clip,” and someone else added, “Too early to be stirring the nonexistent pot. Let the girls play.” They’ve got a point. It’s literally training camp, and we’re talking about a 15-second moment. That’s not nearly enough to build an entire judgment of a player’s capabilities. Plus, Sydney is a proven vet in this league, someone who’s delivered in some pretty clutch moments over her career. Management isn’t just tossing money around for no reason.
They trust her to bring leadership and hustle both on and off the court. But of course, not everyone was in the mood to be patient. Another user jumped in swinging with, “Thats y she plays 6 minutes a game.” If you look at the numbers, in 2024, Colson played 31 games for the Aces, averaging 2.5 points and one assist across about eight minutes per game. Her career average is about 10.5 minutes. So yes, even at the Aces, she was bouncing in and out of the rotation.
sydney colson body language horrible, how are you gonna commit the turnover & get mad at your teammate? https://t.co/16w8yDpIi4
— ravyn lenae enthusiast (@wsgadlibs) April 27, 2025
And it’s true that here at the Fever, playing behind Clark, it’s not like Colson’s gonna be clocking much minutes a night either. But again, the bigger picture matters. She’s there to be a source of wisdom, someone the younger players can lean on when they’re eyeing a deep playoff run. Finally, one user swooped in with a way calmer take, writing, “she was mad at herself.. CC does same thing.” That’s what it looked like too. Caitlin Clark is known for being super animated on the court .
Ballers feel everything so deeply, it’s part of the grind. Colson’s reaction wasn’t even that dramatic. It looked like she was more upset with herself for a bad pass than mad at a teammate. Happens all the time, especially when you’re holding yourself to high standards.
So, all in all, these kinds of little clips are going to keep making the rounds online because fans are so crazy invested in this Fever team right now. For the tie being, we can see that the Indiana women genuinely seem to bond super well off the court. You can literally see it in all those fun videos and goofy moments.
We’re just hoping all that chemistry starts translating to the court too, because if it does, the Fever might just have something special cooking this season.
The post Indiana Fever Fans Left Divided Over Sydney Colson as Clip From Practice Reveals 2x WNBA Champion Struggling On-Court appeared first on EssentiallySports.
