Caitlin Clark Caitlin Clark (Photo via Imagn Images)
As the Indiana Fever gear up for their much-anticipated 2025 WNBA season, one player has been navigating more than just training camp drills.

Center Damiris Dantas has stepped away from the team this week, mourning a personal loss. While the Fever push through preseason preparations, Dantas is taking time with family following a death in her circle.

According to The Indianapolis Star’s Chloe Peterson, Dantas has missed the last three days of camp and will also sit out Friday’s practice. The team expects her to return for Saturday’s preseason opener against the Washington Mystics, but for now, basketball takes a backseat. Teammates, coaches, and fans alike are giving her the space to grieve.

Outpouring Of Support Across The WNBA Community

Damiris Dantas (Photo By Christine Tannous- Imagn Images)
The WNBA community knows how to show up when one of its own needs support. Fans flooded social media with kind words and heartfelt messages for Dantas. Comments ranged from short prayers to touching notes of solidarity.

“Prayers for her and her family,” one fan wrote.

Another shared, “Love and condolences to DD and her family. A lot of W players are having a rough training camp.”

Others offered words of encouragement: “should take all the time she needs” and “Praying for strength, peace and comfort for you DD.”

The outpouring reflects not just support for Dantas, but a deeper sense of community that defines the league. WNBA fans know their players beyond the box scores. They understand the real lives and challenges behind every stat line.

Damiris Dantas, a veteran in her twelfth year of professional play, joined the Fever in 2024. She appeared in 20 games, contributing 4.5 points off the bench and bringing a steady presence to the team’s developing rotation. Her career began in 2012 when the Minnesota Lynx drafted her 12th overall, though she didn’t make her WNBA debut until 2014 due to prior commitments in Brazil.

She has played for the Atlanta Dream across two stints and returned to Minnesota in 2019, where she became a vital part of the team’s core. During the 2020 season in the Florida bubble, she averaged 12.9 points per game and improved her shooting from distance, hitting over 40 percent of her threes. The Fever tip off their regular season on May 17 against the Chicago Sky.