- Natasha Howard was drafted by the Fever with the No. 5 overall pick back in 2014 draft.
- A two-time All-Star, Howard won WNBA titles in Minnesota and Seattle and was the 2019 Defensive Player of the Year.
INDIANAPOLIS — Natasha Howard is more than just a great player. She’s a perfect culture fit, too.
Howard, a 33-year-old, seasoned veteran who has won three WNBA championships, is exactly what the young Indiana Fever need. She knows the fine line of pushing her teammates to be better without being overbearing, and she knows how to be a good teammate.
Most of all, she’s excited to play with the Fever‘s core of Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell.
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Howard, who was part of the Dallas Wings in 2023, went 1-2 against the Fever last season. She was on the other side when Clark set the WNBA single-game assists record with 19 on July 17, and when Mitchell came two points shy of her career-high in points with 36 on Sept. 1. Finally, she witnessed Clark’s career high of 35 points on Sept. 15.
Now, instead of trying to prevent the Fever’s Big Three from getting their numbers, she’ll be able to use that to her advantage by playing with them.
“(I’m excited about) getting to know my teammates, on and off the court,” Howard said. “That’s one thing I actually want: to know to know my teammates first off the court, and then on the court as well. But it’s really exciting to also play with Caitlin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston … I’m happy that I’m playing with them, and not against them no more.”
That ability to jell with the current roster, Fever president Kelly Krauskopf said, was one of the most important aspects of their pursuit of Howard in free agency. Howard officially signed with the Fever on Monday for the regular WNBA max of around $215,000.
“The young group that we’re bringing back, you know, asked us protect our locker room, you know, protect the culture that we’ve got started,” Krauskopf said Tuesday. “That was very intentional. And so, you know, Natasha, knowing her when she was a young player, and then watching how when you go to other teams, and you help other teams win championships. That’s really something special.”
For the Fever front office, there’s no guessing on what type of player and person that Howard is. Krauskopf, who was the Fever’s president from 2000-18, then returned following the 2024 season, was the one to draft Howard out of Florida State with the Fever’s No. 5 pick in the 2014 draft. Howard came into a system that had Lin Dunn, who is still with the Fever as a senior advisor, as the head coach and current head coach Stephanie White as an assistant.
Howard’s first stint with the Fever only lasted two years — she was traded to Minnesota ahead of the 2016 season. But she is someone Krauskopf has kept an eye on in the nine years since.
“This day for us, really is about welcoming back a player that we drafted,” Krauskopf said. “And Lin Dunn and I, probably about 11 years ago, went to have a meeting with her at the ACC tournament before we drafted her, and thought this is not only a tremendous player, but tremendous person, and what she’s done the last nine years in her career has put her in the elite company of many athletes and many players in this league.”
Howard went on to win a championship with Minnesota in 2017, then won two more with Seattle in 2018 and 2020. She took home Defensive Player of the Year honors and All-Star status with the Storm in 2019, then was an All-Star again in 2022 as part of the New York Liberty.
Howard’s stint in Dallas in the 2023 and ’24 seasons was where she met now-Fever general manager Amber Cox, who was the Chief Operating Officer of the Wings at the time.
Howard has worked with every person in the Fever front office, whether it was recently or 10 years ago. She’s been the same hardworking professional throughout her entire career, improving her game in the process.
“She was then, just as she is now, an incredible professional,” White said. “How she approached the game, how she approached competition, daily. She was so fast. Everything was coming at her so fast. And now you see her continued development, her ability to elevate her game, her ability to elevate those around her.”
The trust the Fever front office have in Howard is reciprocated, too. She knows this Fever coaching staff will demand the best out of her, and it will help her improve her game even more.
“Coach Steph has always been on my butt about hustling and working hard,” Howard said. “Doing the good things, because the good things are going to take you a long way.”
Howard is one of multiple acquisitions the Fever have made to go win-now mode in 2025. Indiana also signed 15-year veteran and two-time champion DeWanna Bonner out of free agency and traded for Sophie Cunningham from the Phoenix Mercury and Jaelyn Brown from Dallas.
The Fever, if everything goes right, could be a title contender in 2025. And Howard has just the right mindset to get them there.
“We have the people to actually (win a championship),” Howard said. ” I’m happy to be a part of this and also bring the leadership in the desire to show you what it takes a championship. I have three… It’s just bringing that championship mentality to this locker room, to this team, and just guiding his team.”
