Despite being one of the most injury-riddled teams in the WNBA last year, the Indiana Fever somehow walked away with a 24-win season, a top-three seed in the Eastern Conference, and a deep playoff run.
They upset the top-seeded Atlanta Dream in the first round before pushing the eventual champion Las Vegas Aces to five games.
Most impressively, the Fever did it without franchise star Caitlin Clark for most of the season, including their entire playoff run.
And at the center of it was former No. 1 overall pick Aliyah Boston.
Boston has been a model of consistency for Indiana, averaging 14.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.1 blocks across her first three seasons, all while shooting 54.7% from the field and not missing a single game.
Her 2025 campaign, however, hit another level. She averaged 15.0 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.7 assists, plus All-WNBA and All-Defensive honors and a top-six MVP finish.
According to ESPN’s Andre Snellings, that alone has done enough to make her a dark-horse MVP candidate for 2026.
“Last season, she was tied for sixth in MVP voting, made her first All-Defensive team, first All-WNBA team, and earned a third consecutive All-Star appearance,” Snellings wrote. “There’s going to be a ton of attention on those two guards (Clark and Kelsey Mitchell), and Boston should be the beneficiary.”
“Boston emerges as the MVP contender ahead of Clark and Mitchell,” he added.
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During Indiana’s playoff run without Clark, Boston became the offensive hub and defensive backbone, even posting a double-double average (12.5 points and 11.4 rebounds per game) in the postseason.
She isn’t just productive, she’s stabilizing. When possessions break down, Boston becomes the reset button. When defenses collapse, she’s the pressure valve that keeps everything from stalling.
And with Clark and Kelsey Mitchell commanding constant attention on the perimeter, Boston is often working in a cleaner space, seeing fewer double teams and more favorable matchups.
Considering that, it’s easy to see the path. With defenses honing in on Clark and Mitchell, both near 20-point-per-game career scorers, Boston could be the one who benefits the most.
Still, as logical as it sounds, betting against Clark for MVP feels counterintuitive.
Clark is the gravitational center of the WNBA’s current boom, and even in an injury-shortened 2025 season where she played just 13 games, she still averaged 16.5 points and nearly nine assists per game.
Now healthy again, she’s already flashing that ceiling in preseason action, including a 21-point burst in just 16 minutes against the Dallas Wings.
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So yes, Boston over Clark is surprising. But it’s also revealing.
Clark’s brilliance often comes with volatility. High usage. Turnovers. Defensive targeting. Boston, by contrast, is her efficient, physical, and reliable counterpart.
That’s a dangerous duo, and if Boston ascends into true MVP contention while Clark remains an elite engine, Indiana transforms from exciting contender to a title favorite.
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