Stephanie White Finds Support From Aliyah Boston & Kelsey Mitchell After Blasting Critics

Indiana Fever fans booed head coach Stephanie White during the pre-game introductions before their battle against the Liberty.

Stephanie White Finds Support From Aliyah Boston & Kelsey Mitchell After Blasting Critics

More players rally around Stephanie White (Image via Rich 23/X)

Stephanie White has faced heavy criticism from fans and analysts who felt the Indiana Fever head coach was wrong to defend DiJonai Carrington‘s hard foul on Sophie Cunningham.

They wondered why a coach of any team would defend someone who nearly caused bodily harm to their own player. Instead of supporting Cunningham and commending the officials for calling the Flagrant 2 and ejection correctly, they felt White was pandering to her former player.

When this discourse surrounding this reached feverish levels, where many were calling on the Indiana Fever to fire her, the 49-year-old took to the pre-game press conference to slam her critics.

She reiterated that she had her players’ backs, and that she would not do anything otherwise. Despite that statement, Fever fans booed her before their game against the New York Liberty.

When you are on your home floor, and your team’s getting announced, and your coach is getting announced, I feel like there is no reason for any of that. We come out here, and we do everything we can to win. I think Steph does a great job with us. We love her, and we appreciate her. To hear that, it was really annoying, honestly, and disrespectful.

Aliyah Boston told reporters

The center basically reiterated what Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham said after their win: that their head coach is a big reason why the Fever have had this much success.

Therefore, fans were not right to boo her that way. Aliyah Boston‘s words should reach the Fever fans, as now multiple players have defended Stephanie White after she was booed.

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Kelsey Mitchell throws her weight behind Stephanie White

Since Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and Aliyah Boston are some of the most vocal players on the Indiana Fever, these responses may not seem out of place. But when one of the team’s quietest players, and a superstar at that, speaks up, it tends to go viral.

Kind of threw me for a loop too. I told her to her face, I said, ‘Coach, this is for you,’ in terms of just a sense of confidence… You are not alone. If anybody know me, I don’t play that. So, it really hurt my feelings to see her kind of have emotions in terms of not feeling valued, not feeling wanted… We have to remind her that our culture is not gonna let her fall to the wayside.

Kelsey Mitchell told reporters

The 30-year-old lets her play do the talking for her, which is why she is a four-time All-Star. But Kelsey Mitchell didn’t hold back when she revealed how she felt when home fans booed Stephanie White.

Some felt that the players taking this stance may not be enough to keep the noise out of the building. However, the more players defend White, the less likely those fans are to want to upset them going forward.

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As per Caitlin Clark, Sophie Cunningham, and now Aliyah Boston and Kelsey Mitchell, it seems that the Indiana Fever players were all in sync when they knew what the perfect response would be when the fans booed Stephanie White.

White and Caitlin Clark
White and Caitlin Clark (Image via Mirror US Sports/X)

Now that their statements are in the public domain, all fans who bought tickets for the next home game will know about it. That game is going to be against the Dallas Wings, a team that can upset the Fever, as they have done previously this season.

The Indianapolis-based team has put together a two-game winning streak. They would hate to see that momentum stall ahead of a tough stretch of road games.

So fans may take into account everything the players said and give Stephanie White the applause she deserves for guiding this team to fifth in the standings.

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