Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark and her teammates have voiced their strong support for head coach Stephanie White following a wave of fan disapproval. Clark stated that she felt "a little sick" after witnessing fans boo White during her introduction prior to a recent game against the New York Liberty.
The incident occurred in the aftermath of a game against the Chicago Sky, where Fever guard Sophie Cunningham sustained a hard foul from Chicago's DiJonai Carrington. Following the game, White initially praised Carrington's competitiveness without definitively stating the foul was intentional. This statement drew significant backlash on social media, prompting White to issue a more forceful statement to the media.
Clark was among the first to publicly defend her coach, stating, "There was no way we were losing this game for her. We're going to ride for her, and we're always going to have her back."
Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell also spoke out in defense of White. Boston described the booing as "annoying" and "disrespectful," emphasizing the team's appreciation for White's coaching. "We come out here and we do everything that we can to win and I think Steph does a great job with us. We love her and we appreciate her," Boston said. "To hear that, it was really annoying, honestly, and disrespectful."
Mitchell shared similar sentiments, recounting a conversation with White after the booing. "I told her to her face, I said, 'Coach, this is for you,' in terms of just a sense of confidence, a sense of awareness that you're not alone," Mitchell stated. "It really hurt my feelings to see her kind of have emotions in terms of like, not feeling valued and not feeling wanted in a place where she has to coach."
Mitchell added that the team culture would not allow White to feel unsupported. "At the end of the day, this is her job and she has to show up too, and I think that people don't really recognize that and I think that it's our job to remind her, it's our culture and I think that we have to remind her that our culture is not going to let her fall to the wayside. So I hope she knows that."