When Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington hit Sophie Cunningham on Saturday, pundits predictably turned on Cunningham. Meanwhile, Fever coach Stephanie White stayed quiet.
White has stayed similarly quiet when Caitlin Clark has absorbed physical hits and media fire. Heading into Tuesday's game against the New York Liberty, White took the podium and suddenly found plenty to say.
"You know, 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."
White brushed off criticism as a fabricated narrative while Cunningham absorbed the heat.
Then came her explanation.
"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's okay. 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."
Missing the hit live explains Saturday night. It doesn't explain the silence that followed.
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"I take personally any suggestions that I don't 100% always have my players' back. I ride with them 10 toes down all the time, all of the time. They know that. It's a shame that we can't have an opportunity to talk about what great basketball they're playing because they are f***ing playing."
Riding "10 toes down" rings hollow when Cunningham was left to absorb the backlash after Carrington's hit. Clark has faced similar moments before her. Then came the moralizing.
White added, "The reality is with me, I will always lead with love. I will also lead with grace. I will always lead with humility. And I will always lead with integrity. Doesn't mean I'll always get it right. I'm also human."
Nobody attacked her humanity; they called out her passivity. White then framed the criticism as something more sinister.
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She continued, "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. Every day, these women put their a** 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."
After the news conference, Fever president Kelly Krauskopf soon issued a statement backing White.
"Coach White has done a tremendous job leading the Fever and for the second-consecutive season, has us in great position for a playoff push. She has kept our team focused and united, all while under the brightest spotlight our team and our league have ever experienced. She has the full support of leadership."
The statement backs White. But it doesn't answer the criticism.
Cunningham took the hit and the backlash that followed. By the time White finally called Carrington's play "egregious," much of her response was spent defending herself.
That's not riding 10 toes down. That's showing up after the fight is over.
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