Stephanie White, the head coach of the Indianapolis Fever, has issued a bold statement in response to the Sophie Cunningham controversy. This season, the WNBA has been involved in numerous controversies, with some Fever players at the center of them.
As evidenced by the White House praising Cunningham’s recent remarks about trans athletes, it has garnered more external attention than ever before. Additionally, White has been repeatedly caught in the crossfire.
Though no fault of her own, Clark has been the center of attention for everything WNBA-related in the media since the superstar entered the league. But rather than her level of basketball performance, Cunningham’s actions and remarks have elevated her to a comparable position.
After being expelled from the Connecticut Sun, Carrington—a former teammate of White’s—posted about “white privilege.”
In the midst of a possible racial storm, White was torn between protecting a current player and a previous one when she discussed the event after the game.
White stated:
“I mean, look, it was a hard foul”. “I don’t think that DiJonai intentionally came out to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen, and I thought it was the right call.
“But one of the things about [Carrington] is that she’s gonna play her butt off, man. She’s gonna compete.
“Nobody’s gonna go walking in for a layup. I don’t oppose the hard foul, but I also don’t think she intentionally went for the neck.”
“This isn’t necessarily for those people that are in this room; this is more for an online community that’s trying to create narratives that simply don’t exist,”
“Trying to create a fabrication or distortion of who I am, of what I’m about. Our players’ success, our players’ health and wellness, our players’ safety is always a top priority for me. One of the things I pride myself on is my relationships with players.”
“For those who have anything to say about the play in the last game, 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 is 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.”
“The reality is, with me, I will always lead with love. I will always lead with grace. I will always lead with humility, and I will always lead with integrity. It doesn’t mean I’ll always get it right. I’m also human.
“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, [and] we will not be divided.
“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.”
Due to those remarks, she received calls for her termination from people outside the WNBA, such as Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith.
Speaking prior to the Fever’s 106-92 victory over the New York Liberty on Tuesday nite, White expressed his frustration.
