RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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Stephanie White walked into her pregame press conference Tuesday and said what she’d clearly been holding in for two and a half minutes without taking any questions. As Indiana Fever fans filled up Gainbridge Fieldhouse that night, the tension in the building was impossible to miss.
Caitlin Clark noticed it too, and she wasn’t quiet about it afterward. Speaking to reporters following the Fever’s 106-92 win over the New York Liberty, Clark revealed that hearing her own team’s fans boo White during pregame introductions left her rattled.
“ I hated that our fans booed her before the game ,” Clark said. “ That made me a little sick, to be honest. ”
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The booing followed a rough few days for White. Her team beat the Chicago Sky on Saturday, but the win got overshadowed after Sky guard DiJonai Carrington was ejected for a hard foul on Sophie Cunningham that was upgraded to a Flagrant 2.
White’s postgame comments defending the physicality of the play, without condemning Carrington outright, drew heavy backlash online, including a public call from Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwith for the Fever to fire her.
White addressed all of it head on before Tuesday’s tip.
“ The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that’s trying to hijack our league will not win ,” she said. “ We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided.” She closed her statement bluntly: “Everybody else can go to hell. ”
Clark backed that message up with actions on the floor, finishing with 22 points and 10 assists as Indiana shot 59 percent from the field in the first half alone. It was her second straight double-double after a 26-point, 11-assist outing in Chicago, and it came with a purpose attached.
“ There was no way we were losing this game tonight ,” Clark said. “ I told her that before the game. ”
The performance wasn’t just about the scoreboard. Clark described talking to White earlier in the day and finding common ground in the pressure that comes with being a public figure in this league.
“ She has feelings, and there are moments that are really hard ,” Clark said. “ I told her I’ve been through the same thing. ”
Caitlin Clark’s Locker Room Closing Ranks Around Its Coach
Sophie Cunningham echoed the same sentiment postgame, telling reporters the locker room remains tight despite the outside chatter. Fever president Kelly Krauskopf backed White publicly too, releasing a statement crediting her for keeping the team “ focused and united ” through what the organization called the brightest spotlight the franchise has ever faced.
Clark didn’t hide her frustration with how quickly online criticism turns personal in this league.
“ Our world is just like, we love to hate, we love to divide ,” she said. “ Nobody wants to see each other succeed. I think that’s a really painful thing for myself to watch. ”
Indiana is now 21-12 and has won eight of its last 11 games, sitting in a tie for first in the Eastern Conference. The Fever host the Dallas Wings on Friday, and if Tuesday’s response is any indication, this group has decided that outside noise is now fuel rather than a distraction. Whether that unity holds through the stretch run may end up mattering more than any single technical foul or hard screen this season produces.
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