“Not every player is happy at the end of the season. And you don’t panic, you don’t react. You just stay the course and you know the job is to make sure we put the best team we can,” Kelly Krauskopf spoke about NaLyssa Smith in the introductory press conference recently after taking over her new role as the President of Basketball & Business Operations. Therefore, rumors are rife that Smith would be leaving Indiana, especially after her girlfriend DiJonai Carrington posted a cryptic tweet after the Fever were eliminated from the playoffs. But amid such a situation, Smith doesn’t shy away from expressing that her performance isn’t the reason for the step.

“not too bad 4 a scrub 🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️🙂‍↔️,” Smith posted on X on Monday while sharing a video collating her gameplay throughout the season. Smith in the video can be seen making a three-pointer, sometimes a layup. The caption of the video makes it clear that the 24-year-old hit 10.6 points with 7.1 rebounds per game. And Smith instantly opined that it wasn’t bad for someone who didn’t play regularly in the team.

“I know I can be a number one rebounder,” Smith had said about her skills at the beginning of the season. However, it didn’t take long for her to realize that maybe Indiana wasn’t the side, she had expected it to be. Smith was drafted as the second overall pick in 2022 by the Fever. In her first season itself, she became a starter for the team. It was the time when Marianne Stanley and Carlos Knox were heading the Fever. After Christie Sides took over the job in 2023, Smith came to her best.

She saw an unprecedented 15.5 points with 9.2 boards per game. But once Caitlin Clark entered the season, a new strategy was formed around her, which saw Smith take a backseat. However, when Temi Fagbenle’s injury issues surfaced, Smith took the starting role for a short period of time. But that too ended soon as her performances started going down. And hence, when Smith removed Indiana’s name from her Instagram handle, it was speculated that she wanted to leave the Fever. And now she has fired back at her critics, most probably pointing out that she got limited time on the court, which she made the best use of.

NaLyssa Smith wants to leave Fever as per reports

“never imagined my 3rd year to go like this lol but i know there’s a lesson in every loss,” Smith commented after the Fever made an exit after a brief tour to the WNBA playoffs. Furthermore, she added “#1out” referring to her jersey number which again in some ways suggested she wanted to transfer to some other team. If that wasn’t enough, Carrington shared, “10 toes down for you❤️🤞🏽 #FreeHer,” on X. All this made fans believe that she did not want to be with Sides’ team.

Furthermore, during the regular season final home game against the Dallas Wings, Carrington said, “see what happens when my girl gets some touches.” Meanwhile, in a now-deleted comment, Smith exclaimed “Fun while it lasted babe.” Therefore, fans once again got a reason to believe that this might be Smith’s last season with Clark & Co.

And now in the recent post on X, she has clearly pointed out that she gave her best despite playing limited time on the court. And with this, she has given a clear answer to all her critics that she isn’t at fault for what transpired throughout the season.