INDIANAPOLIS — In an impassioned, three-minute speech, Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White denounced online narratives and hate ahead of the team’s game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday night.
“This is more for an online community that’s trying to create narratives that simply don’t exist,” White said. “Trying to create a fabrication or distortion of who I am or what I’m about. Our players’ success, our players’ health and wellness, our player safety is always a top priority for me. One of the things I pride myself on is my relationships with players.”
Shortly following White’s comments, Indiana Fever president Kelly Krauskopf released a statement in support of her head coach.
“Coach White has done a tremendous job leading the Fever and for the second-consecutive season, has us in a great position for a playoff push,” the statement read. “She has kept our team focused and united, all while under the brightest spotlight our team and our league have ever experienced. She has the full support of leadership.”
White’s comments come as outside narratives have swirled around the Fever throughout the season. Most recently, White came under fire as people thought she defended Sky guard DiJonai Carrington, who played for White in Connecticut from 2023-24, after Carrington hit Fever guard Sophie Cunningham in the face while Cunningham was going up for a layup.
Carrington was subsequently called for a flagrant 2 and ejected from the game. Directly following the game on Saturday, White said, “I don’t think DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen, and I thought (ejection) was the right call. But one of the things about Nai is that she’s gonna play her butt off, she’s gonna compete, nobody’s gonna go walking in for a layup.”
Since then, many on social media have called for White to be fired because they didn’t think she defended Cunningham. Indiana Lt. Governor Micah Beckwith, quoting a video of White talking about Carrington, posted on X, “Ok… The @IndianaFever need to let Stephanie White go. No solid coach would ever take the side of the opposing team’s player who committed a flagrant foul on one of your own players. Terrible coaching! The Fever need to defend their players.”
Cunningham said postgame that she thought Carrington intentionally fouled her, while Carrington told the Chicago Sun-Times on Monday that it was not intentional.
“For those who have anything to say about the play in the last game, I didn’t see the play in real time,” White said. “I went straight to a press conference. I thought the play got called right. Thankfully, Sophie’s OK. Was it egregious? Absolutely. When you have a chance to watch that over and over and over on replay, you can see that. I didn’t have that in real time. I take personally any suggestions that I don’t 100% always have my players back. I ride with them 10 toes down all the time. They know that. It’s a shame that we can’t have an opportunity to talk about what great basketball they’re playing because they are (expletive) playing.”
The Fever have been in the middle of multiple viral moments that have taken the focus, at least outside of the locker room, away from basketball. An apparent disagreement on the bench between White and Caitlin Clark during a game in Portland at the end of May went viral, and rallies against transgender women’s participation in sports have occurred ahead of Fever games following Cunningham’s comments in an ESPN article that she wants to protect “young girls in sport who shouldn’t have to go against biological men.”
Through all of that, too, the Fever have been playing exceptionally well. They are fourth in the standings at 20-12 — including 10-4 in their last 14 games — have the best offense in the league, swept the Eastern Conference Player of the Week (Clark won three times, Kelsey Mitchell once), Eastern Conference Player of the Month (Mitchell), and Coach of the Month (White) awards for July.
“The reality with me is that I will always lead with love,” White said. “I will always lead with humility, I will always lead with integrity. Doesn’t mean I’ll always get it right. I’m also human. The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that’s trying to hijack our league will not win. It won’t win. We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided. Every day, these women put their ass on the line. Every day. When they go low, we go high. Love will win, grace will win, humility will win, and kindness will win. I stand by them. I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell.”
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com. Get IndyStar’s Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Stephanie White rips ‘narratives’ around her team, Fever defend coach
Reporting by Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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By Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
