Fever Stars Back Coach White After Fans Boo Her at Home Game

Indiana Fever All-Stars Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell voiced support for coach Stephanie White on Thursday, saying they were disappointed by boos during White's introduction at Tuesday's home game.

The comments came two days after a 2 1/2-minute monologue in which White defended herself against critics who said she hadn't shown enough support for guard Sophie Cunningham after Cunningham took a hit to the head and neck last weekend against Chicago. Referees upgraded the foul from a Flagrant 1 to a Flagrant 2, ejecting Sky guard DiJonai Carrington.

"I think Steph does a great job with us," Boston said before practice. "We love her and appreciate her and so to hear (boos), it was really annoying, honestly, and disrespectful. But for us, the main thing is the main thing, and we said we're going to come out here and get that win."

Indiana did win, beating the Commissioner's Cup champion New York Liberty 106-92. Afterward, Cunningham and three-time All-Star Caitlin Clark also backed their coach. Cunningham said she agreed with White's assessment that the referees made the right call, but didn't think Carrington intentionally tried to hit her above the neck.

Carrington wrote "WHITE PRIVILEGE" and tagged the Fever's account on social media after her ejection, though she has since said she never meant the foul call was a result of white privilege.

White said before Tuesday's game that she hadn't seen a replay of the incident before her postgame comments Saturday. After watching it later, she called the foul "egregious." The delay put her at the center of another controversy, with Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith calling for her firing on social media.

Mitchell said she told White directly that she was not alone. "It really hurt my feelings to see her kind of have emotions in terms of not feeling valued and not feeling wanted in a place where she has to coach," Mitchell said. "At the end of the day, this is her job and she has to show up, too."

White, an Indiana native, finished her high school career as the state's career scoring leader in girls basketball, led Purdue to the 1998-99 national championship, was one of the original Fever players in 2000, and was an assistant coach on Indiana's 2012 WNBA title team. She was the league's 2023 coach of the year.

Clark, who has also faced boos from fans, said she disliked seeing it directed at White. "At the end of the day, that's our head coach and we're going to ride for her and we're always going to have her back," she said.