The WNBA handed out some in-season hardware on Tuesday night, as the Indiana Fever held off the Minnesota Lynx to capture the fifth annual Commissioner's Cup trophy. It's the culmination of weeks of competition, similar to the NBA's In-Season Tournament: Each team played each conference opponent once, and the teams in each conference with the best records in those games earned a spot in Tuesday's final.
And when the dust settled, it was the Fever who emerged victorious, riding double-doubles from Natasha Howard and Aliyah Boston to a 74-59 victory. Even more impressive? They did so without star guard Caitlin Clark, who was out yet again on Tuesday night as she continues to nurse a groin injury.
The Commissioner's Cup has been a resounding success so far for the W, adding a little extra juice to the regular season and some momentum to take into the All-Star break. Of course, it's also been a boon to the players themselves, who are set to pocket a nice chunk of change thanks to winning it all — Clark included.
WNBA Commissioner's Cup prize money
For winning the Commissioner's Cup, Fever payers will split a bonus pool of $500,000, plus an extra $120,000 in cryptocurrency courtesy of Coinbase. That split works out to anywhere between $41,700 and $45,454 per player. Additionally, the MVP of the game will win another $5,000.
The Fever also earned another $10,000 toward a local community organization of their choice, while the WNBA will also donate an additional $5,000 to a community organization of Minnesota's choice.
Commissioner's Cup history
The WNBA created the Commissioner's Cup in 2021, looking to add a little more intrigue in the midst of the regular season. Each team played each conference opponent once, and the teams with the best records from each conference earned a spot in the championship game.
Only some games are designated Commissioner's Cup games, which is why the Fever are in the title matchup despite their 8-8 record. But it's still worth noting that each of the last two finals also happened to be previews of that year's WNBA Finals, with the Lynx and Liberty facing off in 2024 and the Liberty and Aces meeting two years ago.
Here's the full rundown of every Commissioner's Cup champion to date.
Year | Winner | Runner-up | MVP |
|---|---|---|---|
2025 | Indiana Fever | Minnesota Lynx | Natasha Howard |
2024 | Minnesota Lynx | New York Liberty | Napheesa Collier |
2023 | New York Liberty | Las Vegas Aces | Jonquel Jones |
2022 | Las Vegas Aces | Chicago Sky | Chelsea Gray |
2021 | Seattle Storm | Connecticut Sun | Breanna Stewart |
When will Caitlin Clark return to the court?
After missing Tuesday's game, Clark has now missed more games than she's played in so far in 2025. That's obviously less than ideal for the Fever, though they've managed to at least keep their heads above water in the WNBA standings (and even bag some hardware, too).
After missing multiple weeks with a quad injury, Clark's return to the court was cut short by a groin issue that has hampered her over the last few days. She last appeared in a win over the Seattle Storm back on June 24, shooting just 3-for-13 while scoring six points in 31 minutes.
Clark has averaged 18.2 points, 8.9 assists and 5.0 rebounds per contest in the nine games that she has played this season. The team is 5-4 when she plays, as opposed to 4-4 without her.