On Monday morning, the Indiana Fever announced that they signed a multi-year deal with forward Jantel Lavender, and the veteran big couldn’t be more excited about coming to Indiana.

“I want to be great. The things I have left in me, the drive that I have in me is what I want to give to an organization like this,” Lavender said during her afternoon media presser. “I love team, I love camaraderie and doing things as a group. So, I just can’t wait to get there and start building on the culture that Tamika [Catchings] believes in, that Coach [Marianne] Stanley believes in and that the entire Indiana Fever believes in.”

Acquired via trade from the Chicago Sky last season, Lavender’s journey to Indiana may seem a little unprecedented to some. However, according to Lavender, the Fever have had her attention dating all the way back to 2014 when she was a member of the Los Angeles Sparks.

“I’ve been interested in the Fever since 2014 when Tamika was [still] playing,” Lavender said with a smile. “A lot of times you see all these people tweeting and saying these things about Tamika and her energy and that’s what I wanted to be around. I wanted to exude that energy, excitement, passion and that positivity that she exudes, and I wanted to be a part of that a long time ago.”

Obviously since then, some things have changed. Catchings has since retired and become the general manager and Lavender is no longer a newbie in the league, but now a savvy veteran with a WNBA Championship, as well as the Sixth Woman of the Year award that she won in 2016.

Nonetheless, the Fever still always seem to have Lavender’s attention and even more so in 2020 while they were competing in the WNBA bubble.

“Specifically, about this team I love their drive. A lot of times people get fixated on one moment and for me that moment was huge last year when they beat Seattle [in the wubble] and they weren’t full throttle. To me that was so promising to see how hard they fought, how hard they worked to get that win. They took that moment for what it was, it wasn’t about tomorrow’s game and I like the fact that they celebrated that. They were working hard, and they beat the team that won the championship last season without Erica Wheeler and without everyone being extremely healthy and to me that speaks volumes and I want to be part of hard-working people and young talent.

“Kelsey Mitchell, Tiffany Mitchell, Victoria Vivians I love the way that they play, I love their energy on the floor and I just want to be part of it.”

As for her left foot injury, which kept her kept from playing in 2020, the 6-foot-4 forward says she is feeling great and is now preparing herself for the upcoming season.

“My foot is completely healed,” Lavender stated. “I saw my doctor two weeks ago and I was so nervous because obviously the first time around I didn’t really get results that I was expecting, so just to hear him say that I don’t have a fracture anymore [was great].

[Currently] I’m out in LA, rehabbing four times a week. So, I’m just pretty much working back the muscles that I didn’t use for 3-4 months. It feels great and I don’t have any pain. So, I’m super happy about the way I have taken care of my body throughout COVID, because a lot of people slipped up a little bit, but I had my eyes on the prize.”