The Fever 'thank God for' midseason addition Aari McDonald, who is 5-2 with Indiana

Indianapolis Star

20 hours ago

INDIANAPOLIS — Before her Indiana Fever debut June 3, Aari McDonald meditated and told herself, 'You're here for a reason.' A month later, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell are grateful for McDonald's presence.
'Before the game, we just said, 'We're thankful for you. We thank God for you every single day,'' Boston said after the Fever defeated the Las Vegas Aces 81-54 on Thursday. 'Her impact, you see it just looking at the plus/minus: plus-26. Aari's impact, whether it's scoring or defending, getting us into our offense, making the right reads, making the right pass — she's just been the perfect missing piece for us.'
The Fever signed McDonald in early June on a hardship contract following injuries to Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham. Indiana released McDonald on June 13 when the two guards returned, but re-signed her for the remainder of the season after waiving DeWanna Bonner in late June.
McDonald is averaging 11.3 points, 3.8 assists and 1.3 steals this season. The Fever are 5-2 with McDonald, who has been a pivotal piece with Clark out with a left groin injury.
McDonald scored 12 points on 80% shooting in 25 minutes to help lead the Fever past the Minnesota Lynx in the WNBA Commissioner's Cup final Tuesday. She finished with eight points, seven rebounds and seven assists against the Aces.
In 10 years of being a coach, Stephanie White has never had a midseason addition like McDonald. White said McDonald earned the team's trust immediately and called her a 'relentless' plug-and-play player who surrenders all on the court. White praised McDonald's ability to see the floor and endure on the defensive end.
'She never looks like she gets tired,' White said. 'It's a shot in the arm for our team and something that we've needed,' White said. 'She's answered the call. We're very fortunate that we were able to get her.'
McDonald was a four-star recruit out of Brookside Christian in Stockton, California. She started her collegiate career at Washington in 2017 before transferring to Arizona the following year. She led the Wildcats to the 2021 national championship and earned the Pac-12 Player of the Year Award.
McDonald was drafted third by the Atlanta Dream in the 2021 WNBA Draft. She spent three seasons in Atlanta before being traded to the Los Angeles Sparks in early 2024. The Sparks waived McDonald in March.
McDonald labeled her first stint with the Fever an "audition."
Well, she's passing.
With Clark out for the foreseeable future, McDonald's number will continually be called. It's unclear whether her minutes will decrease when Clark returns. However, four-time WNBA champion Sue Bird believes McDonald's skillset can complement Clark.
"It'd be beneficial for (Clark) if she had teammates around her who could create shots for her," Bird said on her 'Bird's Eye View' podcast. "She has to create a lot of her own shots and create shots for her teammates. And there are times, if she could get some open looks off of other people's play, that would be really beneficial to her.'