Fever Player on Temporary Leave Sends Tearful Message as She Returns to Indiana
Damiris Dantas' time away from the Indiana Fever did not end in an ideal manner. This, after Brazil suffered a heartbreaking loss to the United States in the 2025 FIBA Women's AmeriCup final on Sunday, 92-84, which was held in Santiago, Chile.
Advertisement
Dantas has been on temporary leave from the Fever amid her national team obligations, which officially came to an end on Sunday. Brazil went undefeated until the final, but they ultimately came up short against a powerhouse Team USA side.
On Monday, Dantas took to Instagram to share a photo of herself inside a plane. The 6-foot-4 center-forward is now headed back to rejoin the Fever following her nearly two-week leave, and it appears that her picture was taken during her flight back to the United States.
Dantas added a brief caption to her post.
"The return will be long 🥹" she wrote, as translated from Portuguese to English by an AI tool.
Advertisement
Dantas appeared to be emotional as she posted her message, and the use of the teary-eyed emoji is a testament to this notion. This Instagram story also follows an earlier post where she made a painful admission about Brazil's loss in the tournament.
Dantas was Brazil's driving force in the tournament. She averaged a tournament-best 21.4 points in seven games played, to go along with 6.0 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.6 triples per game.
In the final on Sunday, the 32-year-old veteran dropped a tournament-high 35 points, which still proved insufficient to lead Brazil to victory.
Damiris Dantas of the Indiana Fever shoots the ball against the Seattle Storm. Christine Tannous/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
The Fever are back in action on Wednesday against the Golden State Valkyries, but Dantas' status for that one remains unclear at this point. Fatigue will also be a factor for her after having played seven games in 10 days during the AmeriCup.
Advertisement
Related: Indiana Fever on Temporary Leave Suffers Painful Blow on Sunday
Related: Fan Receives Unexpected Favor From Caitlin Clark on Monday
Related: Lexie Hull Reacts to Indiana Fever News on Sunday
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Jul 8, 2025, where it first appeared.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Caitlin Clark rookie card sells for $660,000, smashing women's sports card record
Another Caitlin Clark card, another record for the most expensive women's sports card ever. Clark's 2024 Panini WNBA Rookie Royalty Flawless patch autographed one-of-one rookie card sold for $660,000 through Fanatics Collect's July Premier auction Thursday night. This card nearly doubled the March sale of a different one-of-a-kind Clark card, her 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl autograph rookie card, which went for $366,000 through Goldin Auctions. This record sale could have quick competition, though. Clark's one-of-a-kind Immaculate patch autographed rookie card, also from the Rookie Royalty set, is up for auction. The card currently holds a price of $219,600 on Goldin with the auction set to end Aug. 9. Thursday's sale is another example of Clark's card market being unfazed by her injury riddled 2025 season. She's only played in 13 of the Indiana Fever's 25 games so far — even missing this year's WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis — with calf and groin injuries. A few key elements set the Rookie Royalty one-of-ones apart from the Prizm card that previously held the record sale. The autograph on the Flawless and Immaculate cards are directly on the card — this is far more desirable to collectors than autographed stickers that are placed on cards, which is what the Prizm card has. In addition, the Flawless and Immaculate cards also feature the WNBA 'Logowoman' patch from Indiana Fever jerseys. Even though they're from jerseys that weren't personally worn by Clark, league logo patches command a premium in cards. Clark also inscribed the Flawless card with '769 pts and counting.' This refers to how many points she scored during her 2024 campaign in which she won the WNBA rookie of the year award. The Immaculate card is inscribed with 'ROY 24' to signify Clark's rookie of the year honors. The Flawless and Immaculate brands typically stand as two of Panini's top high-end products, meaning the cards from those sets command some of the highest price tags for collectors to buy on the secondary market. Flawless and Immaculate have traditionally been a stand-alone sets, but Panini inserted the brands and other high-end company labels like National Treasures and Noir within the Rookie Royalty boxes. That means there is also a similar one-of-a-kind National Treasures Clark Logowoman autographed card in Rookie Royalty, too. This wasn't the only part of the unusual set up. Panini launched its Dutch auction for the boxes containing two cards starting at $30,000. Most boxes sold for around $4,000, though. Each box includes just two cards and is guaranteed to contain an on-card autograph of either Clark or Angel Reese and a Downtown or Kaboom insert of one of 12 players (including Clark and Reese). The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission. This article originally appeared in The Athletic. Indiana Fever, WNBA, Sports Business, Memorabilia & Collectibles 2025 The Athletic Media Company


New York Times
8 hours ago
- New York Times
Caitlin Clark rookie card sells for $660,000, smashing women's sports card record
Another Caitlin Clark card, another record for the most expensive women's sports card ever. Clark's 2024 Panini WNBA Rookie Royalty Flawless patch autographed one-of-one rookie card sold for $660,000 through Fanatics Collect's July Premier auction Thursday night. This card nearly doubled the March sale of a different one-of-a-kind Clark card, her 2024 Panini Prizm WNBA Signatures Gold Vinyl autograph rookie card, which went for $366,000 through Goldin Auctions. Advertisement This record sale could have quick competition, though. Clark's one-of-a-kind Immaculate patch autographed rookie card, also from the Rookie Royalty set, is up for auction. The card currently holds a price of $219,600 on Goldin with the auction set to end Aug. 9. Thursday's sale is another example of Clark's card market being unfazed by her injury riddled 2025 season. She's only played in 13 of the Indiana Fever's 25 games so far — even missing this year's WNBA All-Star Game in Indianapolis — with calf and groin injuries. A few key elements set the Rookie Royalty one-of-ones apart from the Prizm card that previously held the record sale. The autograph on the Flawless and Immaculate cards are directly on the card — this is far more desirable to collectors than autographed stickers that are placed on cards, which is what the Prizm card has. In addition, the Flawless and Immaculate cards also feature the WNBA 'Logowoman' patch from Indiana Fever jerseys. Even though they're from jerseys that weren't personally worn by Clark, league logo patches command a premium in cards. Clark also inscribed the Flawless card with '769 pts and counting.' This refers to how many points she scored during her 2024 campaign in which she won the WNBA rookie of the year award. The Immaculate card is inscribed with 'ROY 24' to signify Clark's rookie of the year honors. The Flawless and Immaculate brands typically stand as two of Panini's top high-end products, meaning the cards from those sets command some of the highest price tags for collectors to buy on the secondary market. Flawless and Immaculate have traditionally been a stand-alone sets, but Panini inserted the brands and other high-end company labels like National Treasures and Noir within the Rookie Royalty boxes. That means there is also a similar one-of-a-kind National Treasures Clark Logowoman autographed card in Rookie Royalty, too. This wasn't the only part of the unusual set up. Advertisement Panini launched its Dutch auction for the boxes containing two cards starting at $30,000. Most boxes sold for around $4,000, though. Each box includes just two cards and is guaranteed to contain an on-card autograph of either Clark or Angel Reese and a Downtown or Kaboom insert of one of 12 players (including Clark and Reese). The Athletic maintains full editorial independence in all our coverage. When you click or make purchases through our links, we may earn a commission.


Indianapolis Star
10 hours ago
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana Fever vs Las Vegas Aces stats: How many points did Kelsey Mitchell, A'ja Wilson score?
The Indiana Fever were back in their "Stranger Things" jerseys and a strange thing happened Thursday night: Kelsey Mitchell opened the game shooting just 3-of-16 from the field. But then the All-Star guard got going and helped lift Indiana past the Las Vegas Aces, 80-70, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mitchell finished with 21 points, while Natasha Howard posted a double-double with 18 points and 13 rebounds, as did Aliyah Boston (13 points, 10 rebounds). Aces' three-time MVP A'Ja Wilson had 20 points and 2016 Indiana Miss Basketball Jackie Young had 19 points. Caitlin Clark sat our her third straight game with a right groin injury and a timetable for her return remains unclear. Here's the full box score for Thursday's game: No. The Indiana Fever star remains out with a right groin injury. Her timetable for a return remains unclear.