Stephanie White Reveals How She Can Improve Fever From Christie Sides Era
The biggest bit of news to come from the WNBA offseason to this point has been the Indiana Fever hiring former Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White to be their new head coach.
This is huge news, considering how White is among the most respected coaches in all of women's basketball. She also has direct ties to the Fever franchise and has already established a strong relationship with star player Caitlin Clark.
While White's hiring was made official a few days ago, it wasn't until Monday when the Fever's introductory press conference for their new head coach took place, which was broadcast live on the team's X account.
At one point in the press conference, White addressed how she plans to improve the Fever from their time being run by former head coach Christie Sides.
"I think offensively, we can be more creative," White said when asked about how she can make the Fever more effective as a team. "I think we can utilize more versatility, utilize certain players in different ways.
"You know, I’m a forward-thinking, outside-the-box kind of coach," White continued. "I like to challenge them on a number of levels. They're a high IQ team, so also giving them the freedom to make plays. If you wanna make plays you don’t run plays... Everyone knows at the end of the day, players win ballgames.”
“Offensively we can be more creative. I think we can utilize more versatility. Utilize certain players in different ways. I’m a forward thinking outside the box kind of coach…but also giving them the freedom to make plays. If you wanna make plays you don’t run plays.”
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Sides was criticized by fans during the Fever's 2024 season for some of her late-game decisions and player rotations. Given that White played Sides' Fever squad six times (and won five of those six games), White got a front-row seat on how she could make the Fever's offense function even better in 2025.
Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.