It was ugly. Honestly, if you watched the Indiana Fever during that stretch in the early 2020s, you know "ugly" might even be an understatement. When people look up the Indiana Fever record 2023, they usually just see the numbers: 13 wins and 27 losses. On paper, it looks like just another year of a team stuck in the basement of the WNBA standings. But sports are weird. Sometimes a bad record is a death sentence, and sometimes it’s the exact foundation you need to build a powerhouse.
Thirteen wins.
That was a huge jump from the year before, even if it doesn't sound like it. In 2022, the team won exactly five games. Five! So, while finishing 14 games under .500 in 2023 might seem like a disaster to a casual fan, for the folks in Indianapolis, it was the first sign of life they’d seen in years. It was the "Aliyah Boston Effect" in full swing, and it set the stage for everything—and everyone—that came next.
Breaking Down the Indiana Fever Record 2023
Let's be real about the math. The Fever finished the 2023 season with a .325 winning percentage. They were 10th in the league, missing the playoffs for the seventh straight summer. That’s a long time to be bad. You’ve got fans who started middle school the last time the Fever were in the postseason and were graduating high school by the time the 2023 season wrapped up.
The season started with a lot of nerves. They lost their first two games, then managed to beat Atlanta, then went on another skid. It was a roller coaster, but a low-altitude one. They were competitive, though. That’s the nuance people miss. They weren't getting blown out by 30 every night anymore. They were losing close ones. They were learning how to not suck.
Christie Sides, the head coach, was in her first year. She had this monumental task of taking a bunch of very young, very talented individuals and trying to make them play like a professional unit. It wasn't always pretty. There were times when the late-game execution made you want to pull your hair out. But you could see the vision.
The Aliyah Boston Factor
You can't talk about the 2023 season without talking about Aliyah Boston. She was the number one overall pick out of South Carolina, and she was basically the only reason people were tuning in early on. She didn't just play; she dominated. Boston became the first rookie since 2014 to start in the All-Star game. She ended up winning Rookie of the Year unanimously.
Her stat line was absurd for a newcomer. She averaged 14.5 points and 8.4 rebounds while shooting nearly 58% from the field. She was a vacuum in the paint. Because she was so solid, it forced other teams to actually respect Indiana. You couldn't just "show up" and beat the Fever anymore. You had to actually game-plan for the big kid in the middle.
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Kelsey Mitchell’s Lone Wolf Era
While Boston was the new shiny toy, Kelsey Mitchell was the engine. Mitchell has been through the absolute ringer with this franchise. She’s one of the best scorers in the world, and for years, she was doing it in total silence because the team around her was struggling. In 2023, she averaged 18.2 points per game.
It was a weird dynamic. You had Mitchell, the veteran who had seen it all, trying to sync up with a rookie center. It took time. By the end of the year, though, that inside-out game was starting to look like something that could actually work in the WNBA.
The Brutal Stretch and the Turning Point
Every season has a "dark night of the soul" moment. For the Fever in 2023, it was that mid-season slump. Between June and July, they went on an eight-game losing streak. It felt like the wheels were coming off again. Fans were starting to do that thing where they look at the mock drafts for next year instead of the box scores.
But then, something shifted.
They went to Phoenix and won. They beat Seattle. They even knocked off the Dallas Wings late in the season. They finished the year going 5-5 in their last ten games. For a team that was used to collapsing in August, playing .500 ball down the stretch was a massive win for the culture. They didn't quit. They realized that they weren't the punching bag of the league anymore.
Why the 13-27 Record was Actually a "Win"
This sounds like coping, I know. "Oh, we lost 27 games, but we're happy!" No one is happy losing. But in the WNBA, the lottery is king.
The Indiana Fever record 2023 was perfectly calibrated. It was good enough to show progress and keep the locker room from imploding, but it was bad enough to keep them in the hunt for the number one pick again. If they had won 17 or 18 games, maybe the lottery balls bounce differently. Maybe they don't end up with the generational talent that changed the sport forever in 2024.
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The 2023 season was the necessary "bridge" year. You had to see if Aliyah Boston was a franchise cornerstone (she was). You had to see if Christie Sides could lead (she showed flashes). You had to see if the fan base would stay (they did, in droves).
- Attendance started to climb.
- Local TV ratings were up.
- The merch started selling out at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Key Statistical Realities of 2023
If you’re a nerd for the numbers, the 2023 Fever were fascinating. They were 3rd in the league in offensive rebounding. That tells you they were gritty. They worked hard. But they were also dead last in three-pointers made. They were playing an old-school, grind-it-out style of basketball in a league that was rapidly moving toward "pace and space."
They lacked a true floor general. Erica Wheeler did her best, and she had some veteran savvy that helped Boston adjust, but the team lacked that explosive, transition-heavy playmaker who could punish teams from 30 feet out.
| Metric | Rank in WNBA (2023) |
|---|---|
| Points Per Game | 7th |
| Field Goal % | 5th |
| 3-Point % | 11th |
| Turnovers | 9th |
Basically, they could score inside, but they couldn't shoot from the outside, and they turned the ball over too much in crunch time. That’s the recipe for a 13-win season.
The Legacy of the 2023 Season
When we look back at the history of the Indiana Fever, 2023 won't be remembered for the trophy case. It’ll be remembered as the year the Fever stopped being a joke. It was the year they became a problem.
They weren't "fixed" yet. Not by a long shot. The defense was still porous at times, and the bench depth was basically non-existent. If Boston or Mitchell had an off night, it was essentially a guaranteed loss. But the foundation was poured. You could see the concrete drying.
Actionable Takeaways for Following the Fever
If you're trying to understand how the WNBA works or why the Fever are currently the center of the basketball universe, you have to look at the 2023 season as the blueprint for "rebuilding the right way."
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Study the Draft Logic
The Fever didn't try to get a "quick fix" in free agency. They committed to the draft. By hovering at the bottom for a couple of years, they secured Aliyah Boston and eventually the 2024 top pick. In a league with only 12 teams, superstar talent is the only currency that matters.
Watch the Coaching Evolution
If you go back and watch 2023 film compared to now, look at how Christie Sides changed her rotations. In 2023, she was experimenting. She was trying to figure out who belonged in the league. By the end of that year, the "core" was set.
Recognize the Market Shift
The 2023 season proved that Indianapolis is a basketball town through and through. Even with a losing record, the energy around the team was higher than it had been since the Tamika Catchings era. This proves that if you build a competitive product in the Midwest, the fans will show up, regardless of the record.
The 2023 Indiana Fever taught us that progress isn't a straight line. It's a jagged, messy, frustrating curve that occasionally dips before it rockets upward. They weren't champions in 2023, but they were finally, finally, moving in the right direction.
To really get the full picture, look at the individual growth of NaLyssa Smith during that season too. She averaged 15.5 points and 9.2 rebounds. Between her and Boston, the Fever had the best young frontcourt in the world. They just needed the missing piece in the backcourt to tie it all together.
Next time you see a highlight of a packed Indiana arena, remember the 13-27 year. It was the season that made everything else possible.
Keep track of these specific milestones from 2023:
- Aliyah Boston's Rookie of the Year campaign.
- The franchise's first 10-win season since 2019.
- The emergence of the Boston-Mitchell-Smith "Big Three" core.
- The league-leading offensive rebounding percentage.
Understanding the context of that 13-27 record is the only way to appreciate where the team is today. It wasn't just a losing season; it was the necessary cost of admission for the future of the WNBA.
Next Steps for Fans:
Go back and watch the highlights of the Fever vs. Phoenix Mercury from August 2023. It was one of the few games where the vision for the team perfectly aligned. You’ll see the high-low posts between Boston and Smith that became the team's signature. Then, compare the 2023 team's transition speed to the 2024-2025 seasons. The difference is staggering, but the roots are all there in that 2023 tape.