Fever coach Stephanie White tells critics to ‘go to hell’ over Sophie Cunningham controversy
Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White on Tuesday pushed back against critics over her handling of the controversy that erupted after Saturday’s game between the Fever and the Chicago Sky, telling detractors “Everybody else can go to hell.” She made the remarks following Indiana’s win over the New York Liberty.
The episode followed Saturday’s ejection of Sky guard DiJonai Carrington for a Flagrant 2 foul after she struck Fever guard Sophie Cunningham in the head and neck. White, who previously coached Carrington at the Connecticut Sun, said she did not believe Carrington intentionally aimed for Cunningham’s neck; some Fever fans booed White before Tuesday’s game and Indiana’s lieutenant governor has called for her to be fired.
After Tuesday’s game White addressed the media briefly, pounding her fist on the table multiple times, and declined to take questions. She said: “The hate, the fear-mongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that’s trying to hijack our league will not win. It won’t win. We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided,” White said. “Every day, these women put their ass on the line. Every day. When they go low, we go high. Love will win. Grace will win. Humility will win, and kindness will win. I stand by them. I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell.”
White said she had not seen Carrington’s foul in real time before her Saturday comments and rebutted suggestions that she did not “100% always have my players’ back.” She added: “Our players’ success, our players’ health and wellness, our players’ safety is always a top priority for me,” she said after Tuesday’s game. “One of the things I pride myself on is my relationships with players. I didn’t see the play in real time. I went straight to a press conference. I thought the play got called right. Thankfully, Sophie’s OK. Was it egregious? Absolutely. When you have a chance to watch that over and over and over on replay, you can see that. I didn’t have that in real time.”
Cunningham publicly backed White on Tuesday, saying: “Our locker room in there, it’s tight, and we have each other’s backs,” Cunningham said on Tuesday. “Coach loves us. She didn’t see the clip ... and that’s OK. Me and Steph are great. Steph is great with all of us, and so it’s really the outside noise that’s trying to distract us, but we’re good.”
Cunningham has been a visible figure off the court as well as on it; an ESPN article published last month quoted her supporting barring transgender girls and women from girls’ and women’s sports, which prompted small protests and rallies outside Fever games in Seattle and Portland. After Saturday’s game Carrington posted the words “white privilege” on social media, although she denied it was a comment on her ejection. The Fever also feature Caitlin Clark, described in the report as the WNBA’s most prominent player, and Cunningham has frequently defended Clark after physical play by opponents.
The off-court storylines have not halted Indiana’s form: the Fever sit with the best record in the Eastern Conference and the fourth-best in the league, and Tuesday’s win was Indiana’s ninth in their last 12 games. “We really did play with joy, and with everything going on, that’s kind of been hard to do,” Cunningham said. “Tonight was the night that we all just clicked and we had fun. We did it for Steph and we did it for everyone in the locker room.”