Aari McDonald has joined the Indiana Fever via emergency hardship exception, the team announced Monday.
The 5-foot-6 guard and No. 3 pick in the 2021 WNBA draft has previously played for the Atlanta Dream and Los Angeles Sparks, averaging 8.6 points, 2.8 assists and 2.0 rebounds per game throughout her career.
"I have always been impressed with her ability to defend, her activity level on the defensive end of the floor, her ability to get to the paint and make decisions when she gets there," coach Stephanie White said on Monday. "She's a true point guard so she brings that energy, she brings the ability to dictate, and she's been really good so far."
McDonald was brought into the fold after the Fever fell below 10 available players with a slew of recent injuries to their backcourt.
Last Monday, Caitlin Clark, the 2024 No. 1 pick, was ruled out for at least two weeks with a quad strain. Indiana then lost Sophie Cunningham and Sydney Colson to injury during Friday's game against the Connecticut Sun.
White said on Sunday that Cunningham and Colson received "good news" from their MRIs and that they should return "sooner rather than later." Colson participated in all practice on Monday, White said, ahead of the Fever's Tuesday tilt against the Washington Mystics, but the coach added the team will see how she "recovers from this and make sure there's no setbacks."
The Fever (2-4) enter Tuesday's game on a three-game losing streak, including losses in both games so far that Clark has missed.
"I think any time that you're hit with adversity, it gives you an opportunity to grow through it," White said Monday. "I'd rather be hit with this now in May, allow us to grow through it from not just an execution standpoint, but a toughness standpoint, mental toughness as well as physical toughness standpoint, and be better from it."
