Stephanie White Under Fire For Lack of Caitlin Clark Praise After Fever Loss

The Indiana Fever dropped a close home loss to the Washington Mystics on Friday, 104-102 in overtime, thanks to 30 points from Sonia Citron and 25 points from Kiki Iriafen.

While Caitlin Clark struggled early in the matchup, she turned things around, finishing with 32 points on 10-for-28 shooting. The biggest struggle was her three-point shooting, as she took 17 from downtown and made just seven.

However, Clark also had eight assists to teammates, four rebounds, two steals, and a block to fill out her stat sheet. Unfortunately, Indiana was unable to capture an early win at home.

And after the game, it was Clark’s head coach, Stephanie White, who drew many people’s attention when she didn’t heap enough praise on her star player.

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In the postgame press conference, a reporter asked how she felt about the team’s fourth-quarter rally and Clark’s five threes in the quarter to help send it to overtime.

“I thought our whole group showed resilience in that rally. We showed the ability to make tough shots. We had some really good time-and-score execution moments, offensively and defensively, in those moments. We just have to have more of it consistently,” she told reporters.

“HOW does she not comment on Caitlin’s game tonight … it’s like she’s afraid to compliment her. Makes me sick,” a commenter replied on an X video about White’s comments.

Another said, “Ya she’s gotta go, can’t even give her player props that single handedly took over the game to take it to OT. Her everyone is equal gimmick isn’t it.”

“idk how many times I have to say this. But she is not the coach for Caitlin,” someone wrote on X.

“@IndianaFever @CaitlinClark22 push to get coach white fired immediately. She completely ignored the question. Unacceptable and very unprofessional,” another commenter suggested.

Many commenters indicated that if Kelsey Mitchell had been the one with the fourth-quarter brilliance, White would’ve been singing her praises. However, some fans perceive that she doesn’t hold Clark in as high regard or is showing “tough love.”

Whether White is the issue with the Fever to start this season is unclear. The team has Clark back healthy, along with core roster members Sophie Cunningham, Lexie Hull, Mitchell, and Aliyah Boston.

While the season is early, Clark seems to be back in form, averaging the fourth-most points in the WNBA with 25.3 per game, behind teammate Mitchell, who has 25.7 per game. Clark is also second in assists, averaging eight per contest.

The Fever are also the league’s second-best scoring team, putting up 97.7 points per game, but their rebounding and defense rank among the league’s lowest this season. There are certainly areas where the squad can improve, and it seems White could’ve been trying to instill confidence in her team to build on the late rally, rather than just praising Clark.

They’ve started 1-2, with the two losses coming in front of their home fans in Indiana against the Dallas Wings and Mystics. They’ll try to get that elusive first win at home on Sunday when they host the Seattle Storm.

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This story was originally published May 16, 2026 at 4:20 PM.