Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White ended her week on a high note Friday, after facing immense national scrutiny for days, but still made mention of people trying to "tear" her team apart.
White was cheered by the Indiana crowd ahead of the Fever's game against the Dallas Wings. She had been booed ahead of their most recent game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday, amid controversy over how she initially responded to a flagrant foul on Sophie Cunningham.
But after Cunningham and Caitlin Clark defended White publicly, the fans went back to cheering for the coach on Friday.
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"It means a lot, we love eachother in that locker room. And we know that there's a lot of people out there that are trying to tear it apart," White told reporters after the game. "When we say we're a family, we mean that. It doesn't mean we always get along, it doesn't mean we always agree, but at the end of the day it means we circle our wagons and we have each other's back...
"It means a lot to me personally, and obviously, any time you get an ovation from the crowd it's nice too. I think our fans, the true Indiana Fever fans, are amazing. They've been incredible to me for a long time."
White added that the players and coaches on her staff have been "lifting her up."
White's tough week began on last Saturday after her team's game against the Sky in Chicago. When asked about a now-infamous flagrant-2 foul by DiJonai Carrington against Cunningham, White appeared to give Carrington the benefit of the doubt and suggest that the foul wasn't on purpose.
Then ahead of the Fever's Tuesday game against the Liberty, White dedicated her entire pre-game media availability to a rant that sandwiched her admission that she realized the foul was "egregious" in between condemnation of external prognosticators critics.
"For those who have anything to say about the play in the last game, I didn't see the replay. I went straight to a press conference, I thought the play got called right. Thankfully, Sophie is OK. Was it egregious? Absolutely," White said.
"When you get a chance to see that on replay over and over, you see that. I didn't see that in real time. I personally take any suggestions that I don't 100% always have my players back."
Clark and Cunningham defended White publicly on Tuesday night.
"Our locker room in there, it's tight, and we have each other's backs," Cunningham said. "Coach loves us...
"She didn't see the clip. At the end of the day, she didn't see the clip."
Clark offered a more personal defense of White.
"I think we forget a lot of times, like, we're human and she has feelings," Clark said. "There's moments that are really hard."
Clark drew from her own experience under intense scrutiny. She told White that even thick skin has limits.
"I've been through the same thing," Clark said. "There's been days where I've been really upset, and you can have the thickest skin in the world, but sometimes it does get to you."
For at least a night, the focus of the Fever's season turned back to basketball on Friday, as Clark and Cunningham led a clean and convincing victory over Paige Bueckers and the Wings.
Indiana has won eight of 10 and finished the night as the league’s fourth-place team, a half-game ahead of the Atlanta Dream — its opponent on Sunday. The Wings have lost seven of 10 to fall into a tie for seventh with Washington.
