Storm Coach Explains Heated Sideline Conversation With Christie Sides
The Indiana Fever improved to 13-15 on the 2024 WNBA regular season on Sunday after defeating the Seattle Storm by a score of 92-75.
While it was a close game through the first three quarters, Indiana surged ahead in the fourth and made the last few minutes of the game little more than garbage time.
Yet, Fever head coach Christie Sides elected to keep her starting group in the game until the game clock showed all zeroes.
And this rubbed Storm coach Noelle Quinn and select members of the Storm the wrong way.
Quinn showed her frustration with Sides in a sideline conversation that was captured on the game's CBS broadcast, where the two coaches were exchanging what appeared to be heated words in the game's waning moments.
Skylar Diggins and Noelle Quinn ( HC of Seattle storm) is upset that Christie sides (HC of Indiana fever,) kept her starters in when Noelle put the bench in. #WNBA pic.twitter.com/CtPynYFwdz
— Domo 🗽 (@ddubxdo) August 18, 2024
Quinn then spoke out about the interaction during her postgame press conference. When asked about what she said to Sides, Quinn responded with, “We were just having a spirited conversation about gamesmanship.”
“We were just having a spirited conversation about gamesmanship.” Coach Noelle Quinn said about her heated exchanged with Indiana Fever Coach Christie Sides at the end of the game. #WNBA
— Storm Chasers (@WNBAStormChaser) August 18, 2024
It's worth noting that whatever was said between the two coaches didn't incite any lasting bad blood, because Quinn and Sides were seen hugging each other during the postgame handshakes moments after their initial interaction occurred.
What's for certain is that the Fever are on an absolute roll right now, and must have put other teams on notice Sunday by the way they were able to dismantle a Storm squad that many expected to compete for a WNBA title this season.
Indiana and Seattle don't play each other anymore during the regular season. But there's a chance the two teams could meet in the playoffs; which would make for a dramatic matchup after what happened between the two head coaches today.
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.