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Late on the night of May 11, after the Indiana Pacers had dispatched the Cleveland Cavaliers, 129-109, in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series, Eddie White, the host of "Pacers Overtime" on 107.5 The Fan, took a call. 

"It was just one of those nights where you literally could not miss," Caitlin from downtown said. "It was Aaron [Nesmith], it was Myles [Turner], it was Pascal [Siakam]. It was just one to the next. It was really, really fun to watch. I felt honestly bad for the Cavs at one point, but man, that was some good basketball." 

Caitlin from downtown, a.k.a. Caitlin Clark, knows a thing or two about good basketball. The brightest star in the women's game has transformed the Fever into a WNBA title contender, while her good friend Tyrese Haliburton has the Pacers in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000 and two wins away from their first NBA title in franchise history.

Together, the electric point guards have turned Indianapolis into the center of the basketball world. The Pacers will take on the Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday in the first Game 7 in the NBA Finals since 2016. Hours earlier, the Fever will face the Las Vegas Aces on national TV (streaming on fubo).

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Haliburton and Clark have also strengthened the 25-year-old bond between the two franchises. 

No one understands the connection between the Pacers and Fever (who share an ownership group) better than Kelly Krauskopf. Following a stint as the WNBA's director of operations, Krauskopf joined the Fever as the franchise's first general manager ahead of their inaugural season in 2000. She held that post until 2017, when she left to run Pacers Gaming, Indiana's NBA 2K League team. In 2019, she became the Pacers' assistant general manager, which made her the first woman in NBA history to hold such a role. Now she's the Fever's president of basketball and business operations, having returned to the team last September.

When Krauskopf first started with the Fever, many Pacers staffers held dual roles to help get the WNBA team up and running, which she said helped create a "family feel." NBA legend Larry Bird, who was coaching the Pacers at that time and later returned as an executive, regularly offered his advice to Krauskopf. Pacers coach Rick Carlisle, who is now in his third stint with the organization, has done the same.

From the beginning, Krauskopf said, there has been a mutual respect from the top level of both organizations all the way down to the locker rooms. "Basketball is basketball," she said. "These players all know." So do the fans in a city and state where "we truly are tied together by the sport and the pride that we have in both franchises. It's a special feeling." 

There are 10 markets that currently boast both an NBA and WNBA franchise. In six of them -- Washington, DC; San Francisco; Indianapolis; Minneapolis; Brooklyn; Phoenix -- the teams have the same owner. Nowhere is the connection as deep and as storied as in Indy. 

"Indianapolis is a small-town feel, right? It's a small-town vibe," Stephanie White, who is in her second stint as the Fever's coach and previously played for the team, said. "They say it's a small market, but a small market means better relationships oftentimes, right?"

Through the years, the Pacers and Fever have often had elite players and title-contending teams at the same time: Jermaine O'Neal and Tamika Catchings in the early 2000s, Paul George and Catchings in the 2010s. When the Fever won the first title in franchise history in 2012, George and other Pacers were in attendance. 

But, particularly early in the Fever's existence, the bond between the franchises was more of a local story than a national one. "People didn't know it because we didn't have a way to tell our story back then," Krauskopf said. "Now you can see it, and it's real." 

'The way we play can be very similar'

In Haliburton's three full seasons with the Pacers, he's finished second, first and third in the NBA in assists. As a rookie, Clark led the WNBA in assists and broke the league's single-season record with 337. She was on pace to break it again this season before a quad injury sidelined her for the last five games. 

Few players in their respective leagues see the game like Haliburton and Clark. 

"I think it's unique when you look at having a point guard like Tyrese and having a point guard like Caitlin in the state of Indiana, the state that loves basketball," White said. "The passion that they play with, you know, it really epitomizes the pride of basketball in Indiana."

Their shared abilities, experiences and expectations for themselves and their teams has not only forged a real friendship, but helped their games grow. "It's nice being able to just talk basketball and like, understand each other," Clark said. The two stars are in an active group chat.

If you want to play for the Pacers or Fever, you need to be able to run the floor. Both teams love to push the ball at every opportunity, even after their opponents score. And Haliburton and Clark are two of the best outlet passers alive, which helps generate countless easy baskets.

"I feel like we have similar styles of play, and that the fans really embrace that," White said. 

It's not only easy for fans to recognize the similarities between both offenses, but it's also fun to watch. Points pile up quickly in Indianapolis, sometimes even for their opponents. After a bit of a slow start this season, the  Pacers were seventh in offensive rating (117.0) over the final four months of the season and the Fever were third (105.2) before Clark went down. 

"They play basketball the right way," Clark said of the Pacers. "If you want to watch really good basketball, that's one of the teams you should watch."

Haliburton and Clark -- the maestros of their respective teams -- deal with many of the same defensive strategies: blitzes, ball denial, full-court pressure, heavy help in the gaps, extra physicality. 

"They want to take the ball out of his hands early in transition and he says the same thing," Clark said. "Like it's just a fine balance of finding that and working with your teammates and helping them understand. … It's just really, really hard to guard the weapons around him, and I think at times the way we can play can be very similar to how the Pacers play, especially with the depth we have and the depth that they have."

'They're like rock stars'

In recent years, the popularity of women's basketball has exploded, thanks in large part to Clark, whom Haliburton called "one of the first superstars that the W has had at that level."

Clark's presence helped the NCAA women's national championship game outdraw the men's in 2024 for the first time ever. During her rookie season in the WNBA, attendance figures, viewership numbers and merchandise sales skyrocketed to never-before-seen levels. 

"I think the Fever in general -- they're like rock stars," Haliburton said earlier this year in Paris. "They are a big part of the growth behind that league and they will be a big part of that moving forward because I think everybody can see that there's going to be a lot of success from that team."

The Fever are the "biggest thing in the WNBA at a moment where it's exploding like crazy," Pacers center Myles Turner said. 

The Fever's home opener against the Chicago Sky this season was as loud of a basketball environment as you're going to find anywhere. Walk into a bar in Indianapolis and you're just as likely to hear someone talking about the Fever as the Pacers. 

A similar trend is emerging across the country. "Sometimes male fans didn't think women's basketball was worth watching, and that's changed," Krauskopf said. "I do think there's a cool factor to it, but I think it's real, it's not manufactured." The WNBA still has room to grow, both in Indianapolis and elsewhere, but there are more eyes on the league than ever before. 

'Basketball's got its own love language'

Scan the crowd at a Pacers playoff game, and it won't take you long to spot Clark and her Fever teammates, usually sitting courtside. When it's the Fever's turn to take the court at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Haliburton can often be found in the front row along the baseline. Except at the Fever's home opener last month, when he was up in a suite with his Pacers teammates. 

"Basketball's got its own love language for us as hoopers," Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell said. "There's just an unannounced respect that we have for each other that we want to support each other regardless. It's just a plus that it happened to be in the same city at the same time and we're both having the same success."

The Pacers are 8-1 this postseason with Clark in attendance, and she said it's been "incredible" to see the way the state has rallied around both teams. During the Pacers' Game 6 win over the New York Knicks to punch their ticket to the Finals, Clark was so caught up in the moment she started taunting Jalen Brunson with his own celebration after a Haliburton 3-pointer. 

Fourth-year Fever guard Lexie Hull was in attendance for the Pacers' stunning overtime comeback to eliminate the Milwaukee Bucks in the first round. She said Haliburton's game-winner and the crowd reaction made her "really excited" for a playoff push with the Fever because the energy was "really, really cool." 

Pacers players often ask assistant coach Jenny Boucek, who spent nearly two decades in the WNBA as a player and coach, for her opinions on the league. Boucek and White have been friends since they played against each other decades ago. "Coaches talk to coaches," Krauskopf said. "Jenny talks to Steph and Rick talks to Steph." Boucek and Carlisle have attended Fever practices. 

White said it has been "awesome" to "bounce things back and forth off of those guys."

'These are the good days' 

For all of the synergy between the franchises -- Haliburton and Clark's friendship, the similar play styles, the genuine respect and admiration both groups have for each other -- none of this would matter all that much if the Pacers and Fever weren't also enjoying success on the court. 

Prior to last season, the Pacers hadn't won a playoff series since 2014. Now, they've been to back-to-back Eastern Conference finals and are in the NBA Finals for the first time since 2000. The Pacers haven't won a championship since capturing three ABA titles in the 1970s. 

The Fever haven't reached those heights just yet, but everyone expects them to ascend quickly. Clark led them to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2016, and while they're currently .500 due to her multi-week absence, they have the WNBA's third-best title odds (+400, per Caesars). 

"It's a great time to be a basketball fan in Indiana," Krauskopf said. "We're fortunate. These are the good days. These are the ones you want to hang on to. You want to be playing deep into the summer if you're the Pacers, and for us we're getting started. It feeds off of each other. How far they go inspires us, and vice versa."

Come September, when the WNBA playoffs roll around, Eddie White may want to keep his line open for Tyrese from downtown.