INDIANAPOLIS — Glance in Raven Johnson‘s direction at any given moment and you’ll see one of two things: basketball or dancing.
The Indiana Fever rookie can’t help it. In warmups before a game, she’ll bust out a move while in the back of the layup line. While limbering up before practice, she’ll work in a routine to go along with her stretches. Before the more serious basketball parts come, Johnson is grooving.
Then, she’s playing. So far, she’s done so in all 11 games for the Fever, logging 14 minutes a night off the bench. Her defense is pesky, just like it was in college. Her offense, certainly a work in progress, centers around her speed and intangibles as a point guard.
Johnson is a serious player, moving from play to play with intensity. It’s the type of rookie coaches love, one that can quickly move on from mistakes. She contrasts that play style with her dance moves, which keep most situations light. And that dichotomy is actually part of what makes Johnson who she is — and it’s helping her get better in the WNBA.
“I’m just a bubbly person. I like to have fun… Through the good and the bad, I’m always smiling,” Johnson told The IX Basketball. “Dancing is just my go to. I’m going to hit a dance move.”
Early in training camp, Johnson walked out onto the floor ahead of practice. Just Wanna Rock by Lil Uzi Vert was blasting through the speakers, and before drills started she busted out dance moves from the music video. Then it was go time, with her fellow rookies and other young Fever players.
She flipped the switch and focused, but those two moments are connected. “I think it just keeps me calm through the storm. When I’m nervous, I try to dance and get a little jitters out,” Johnson explained. “I think it helps me stay relaxed, stay true to myself, and not just get too high with the highs and too low with the lows.”
Often, Johnson is shaking a leg by herself. Surrounding teammates always take notice and watch with an endearing grin as the rookie guard finds her center. Without saying a word, a connection is made.
It lifts the spirit of the team. And Johnson, the 10th overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft, doesn’t always boogie alone. One teammate in particular joins in more often than others.
“Caitlin,” she said with a smile, referring to Caitlin Clark. “She’s so funny, she be joining me. We have this little handshake. It’s got a little dance move to it.”
The two guards came to the idea for their handshake together. They’re a fitting combo — their skills pair well on the court. Clark is an offensive superstar capable of almost anything with the ball. Johnson is a defensive menace. Together, albeit in limited action so far this season, they’ve teamed up for successful stretches of play. In their 62 shared minutes, the Fever have a +11.5 net rating, per databallr.
“She brings the energy every single day. It best [manifests] itself when she’s playing defense. She’s tenacious, she’s fiery, she’s competitive. Whatever the coaches ask of her, she’s going to do, and she’s been doing it really well,” Clark said of Johnson. “She’s been learning a lot. She asks a lot of really great questions. So I just think the positive vibes that she’s brought in here has been a really fun addition for us. Super proud of her.”
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Clark, like much of the Indiana Fever staff, are happy with Johnson’s progress as a player. She hardly looked at the rim in her first four appearances, for example, then fired up 12 shots in her fifth outing. That may have been too much of a ramp up, but it showed Johnson’s increasing confidence better than anyone could explain.
That night also showed Johnson’s dedication. Of her dozen shot attempts, just three went in. Head coach Stephanie White noted postgame that Johnson was largely unguarded in the game and that it’s White’s job, and the coaching staff in general, to help the rookie figure out how to handle those moments as her jump shot progresses.
It didn’t take long for Johnson to get to work on her jumper. Mere minutes, actually. The Fever won by 17 that night, beating Portland to climb over .500. The final buzzer sounded at about 9:15 p.m. At 10:05, Johnson was back on the same court that the game was played on. Multiple assistant coaches joined her as the rookie guard attempted threes for nearly a half hour.
One off night, in a win nonetheless, and Johnson felt the need to work on her jumper. Since then, she’s shooting 48.4% from the field and 36.4% from long range. “I just needed to get (reps) in. I went one for, I think it was a bad number,” Johnson recalled of that post-game session getting in additional work. “It’s muscle memory, honestly. I’m a competitor and I’m a hard worker. So my mind is telling me, ‘Just go in the gym, get those shots up.'”
White is doing her part. She spent individual time with Johnson after a shootaround in late May working on hand placement during jump shots, for example. Johnson loves White and her coaching style, praising how she can be goofy and play around. But when it’s time for business it’s time for business.
“She’s a joy to be around,” White said of Johnson. “She has this way about her that allows her to connect with other people.”
Johnson loves, and needs, that individual focus from coaches. She recognizes the increased importance of the offensive end in the WNBA compared to college and knows she must improve.
Also working often with Johnson is Briann January, a former player who is on White’s staff. January was an All-Star known most for her defense as a player — she was named to seven All-Defense teams.
Sound familiar? Johnson is perhaps the perfect pupil. When Johnson was in college, she realized how talented she is on the defensive end of the floor. That made her more willing to work on her craft, and she studied several defensive masters: Brea Beal, DiJonai Carrington and NBA legend Gary Payton were among them. Now? She’s studying January, one of her coaches.
“Her defense ability is crazy. It’s unbelievable,” Johnson said of her assistant. “I actually looked her up on YouTube and I saw how she was a gnat for the ball and stuff. I was like, ‘I need to try to get like you!’ Seven time defensive team, that’s insane. She won a ring here and I’m trying to do the same.”
Lofty, yet team-focused goals. Exactly what a team wants to see from a first-year player. January and Johnson watch film together. They review concepts and hit the gym constantly, going over terminology. That’s one of the biggest adjustments for rookies who go straight from the collegiate level to the WNBA — communicating is much harder when the jargon is different.
Johnson is doing what she can to keep up in that department. Just like her shooting shortcomings, she’s putting in the effort to improve and fix her weaknesses. In the meantime, her strengths get her on the court. Defense. Speed. Ball movement. All of the skills that got Johnson drafted.
Her on-court movements are unlike those of most players. Johnson almost glides around as opposed to running or sliding, particularly on defense. It keeps her in front of her matchup and makes her ready to pounce in passing lanes.
Those motions are unique. The closest comparison? Dancing. “It’s like with music,” Johnson explained of her one-of-one movement style. “I go to deep rhythm. It’s a rhythm thing. I try to do that more.”
Now glance again at Raven Johnson. You may see her doing one of two things: Dancing or basketball. While they are separate activities, they are linked. And they’re both pushing Johnson toward what she hopes to be in the WNBA.
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