RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White talks with Indiana Fever guard Sophie Cunningham (8) on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, during the game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.
You go after one, you go after all of them. That’s the message Indiana Fever locker room and its veteran guard, Sophie Cunningham, sent after critics called for termination of coach Stephanie White.
The Fever have spent much of the 2026 WNBA season assimilating to a new level of outside scrutiny, which can often drown out what happens on the court. Following their most recent victory, Cunningham has set the record straight. After Indiana defeated the New York Liberty 106-92 in their most recent game on August 11, 2026, Cunningham defended her head coach by claiming that the players had not let the outside noise disturb their locker room.
Cunningham addressed White’s remark following the DiJonai Carrington foul over the weekend during Fever’s post-match interview on Tuesday. She said that she and her coach are on excellent terms and that she has no resentment against White or the Chicago Sky guard for the foul. Cunningham, in fact, accused outside forces of trying to distract Indiana.
When asked about what she thought of White’s fiery statement addressing recent backlash she received over her statement, Cunningham noted, “I think there has been a lot of outside noise, but our locker room is good, and that’s what it is to be in (the) Indiana Fever.”
“On the staff, as a player, you know that when you come here, that’s going to be one of the things that is going to try to distract you. But our locker room in there… It’s tight. We have each other’s backs. Coach (White) loves us.”
Adding to White’s defense of her not seeing the real-time play before her post-game interview on Saturday, Cunningham said, “She didn’t see the clip.”
“At the end of the day, she didn’t see the clip, and you know what, DiJonai is a hell of a player. She’s a great defender.”
Speaking of White, who coached Carrington from 2023 through 2024, Cunningham added, “She coached her for, I don’t know how many years, up in Connecticut. So give her her flowers, and she didn’t see it. That’s okay.”
“Me and Steph are great. Steph is great with all of us. It’s really the outside noise that is trying to distract us, but we’re good.”
Cunningham had some choice words for that “outside noise” as well.
“I really don’t care anymore. I’m trying to keep the main thing the main thing. I think we played an excellent game today against the Liberty… That’s what is important. We’re trying to focus on the big picture here, and we really needed this win. That is our focus…”
Sophie Cunningham gives a great presser. The locker room is tight. The league she doesn’t care what they do . Caitlin sticks to basketball. pic.twitter.com/yJpGX8TaDm
— CCFC-New season (@sohali2012) August 12, 2026
After the Fever’s 90-86 win over the Sky on August 8, 2026, in a game that saw Carrington receive a Flagrant and get ejected over a hard foul on Cunningham, White defended the Sky guard, claiming she was making a usual basketball play. Based on the time she spent coaching Carrington on the Suns, White said that she knew she wasn’t a player who plays dirty. However, not everyone took White’s comments well. Critics accused the Fever coach of defending a rival team’s player and even said she doesn’t defend her own players, like Cunningham, enough.
In the days after her statements, White faced heavy criticism from fans for failing to defend Cunningham and her other players. Many have even called upon the Fever to fire their coach.
So on Tuesday, White made a clear statement about how much she supports her players before Indiana’s game against New York.
“I take personally any suggestions that I don’t 100% have my players’ backs. I ride with them, 10 toes down all the time. All the time! They know that,” White said.
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