INDIANAPOLIS — When Indiana fever president Kelly Krauskopf Returning to the franchise in early October, she brought a new perspective.
Krauskopf served as president and CEO from 2000 to 2018, but left to work for Pacers from 2018 to 24. When the former president Allison Barber has resigned After last season, Krauskopf returned to the franchise she helped build.
“I had the opportunity to evaluate and look at everything in depth,” Krauskopf said. “My challenge was: where do we need to make improvements? Where can we improve? And how can we speed up this process? From what I saw in the two years I sat watching, Christie Sides did a great job. And as we move forward, my thinking was, how do we maximize what we have and how do we seize this opportunity now? »
This included changes at general manager and head coach Lin Dunn and Sides, respectively.
Stephanie White is back with Fever. Here’s what she said about her return.
Dunn left her position as executive director to become a senior advisor. Krauskopf then hired Amber Cox away from the Dallas Wings to become Indiana’s new COO and GM.
Krauskopf took longer to evaluate the head coaching position, and ultimately decided to fire Sideswho was 33-47 in two seasons as Indiana’s coach. The teams saw improvement in each of their two seasons: the Fever went from five wins in 2022 to 13 wins in their first season in 2023, then improved to 20 wins and a playoff berth in 2024. This was Indiana’s first playoff berth since 2016 – when ironically, Stephanie White was the head coach.
Still, Krauskopf saw an opportunity she couldn’t pass up in White, an experienced coach who knows what it means to win at the highest level. And that meant she had to let Sides go.
“We had made the decision to move on, and it was tough, because it doesn’t take away from what Christie did, or what the coaching staff did,” Krauskopf said. “And to use his words, she left it better than she found it. But we’re looking to the future, and this is the next phase of the next era of what we’re building here.
How Christie Sides’ firing and Stephanie White’s hiring coincided
The Fever didn’t announce its parting with Sides until late October — a month after Indiana’s season ended and a week after the New York Liberty were crowned WNBA champions. It was odd timing, especially for a franchise that has seen relative success in 2024. But the Fever were already in contact with White before making the official decision to fire Sides.
White and Krauskopf have a long history: Krauskopf was the one who traded for White in the Fever’s 2000 expansion draft, then hired her as an assistant coach in 2011 and head coach in 2015.
White is also from West Lebanon, Indiana, just 1.5 hours from Indianapolis. His family, which includes his partner, ESPN Monday Night Football reporter Lisa Salters, and their four children are based in Nashville, a four-hour drive from Indianapolis.
Krauskopf first contacted White after hearing about her family emergency following the WNBA season, then heard from her agent that White might be interested in leaving the Sun.
“I had heard her agent say there might be a change… He said to me, ‘That might be something she could come back to.’ So I said, ‘Well, let me know.’ Keep me posted.” Krauskopf told IndyStar. “A week or so went by, and then once they found out that Connecticut was going to allow him to talk to teams, we were kind of at the point where we were also making the decision to walk away from Christie and kind of move on. And I had collected other names, so it felt like serendipitous timing.
Reports first linking White to the fever were reported by Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times. She reported that White envisioned Heaven, Fever and the Sun. October 23despite having one year remaining on his contract with Connecticut.
White said his agent has received numerous inquiries from teams. Since she was still under contract with the Sun, she needed permission from Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti to speak with the Fever or any other franchise interested in her.
“When the opportunity came up to speak at Indiana, I spoke to Jen and I think she recognized what a unique opportunity it was for me,” White said. “It’s not about comparing apples to apples, and she graciously allowed me to speak to them. And you know, I’m grateful to Jen for bringing me back to the WNBA. I absolutely loved working with the Connecticut Sun organization, but for me it was just a no-brainer, the opportunity to come back home to work with this team and this franchise.
Indiana fired Sides on October 27. Connecticut announced it had parted ways with White a day later.
Then, on November 1, it became official: White was the Fever’s new head coach. With seven teams looking for new coaches this offseason, Indiana’s vacancy was the shortest.
White not only has family ties to Indiana, but she is the one the Fever front office believes can take Indiana to the championship. It almost happened once before: White led the Fever to the WNBA Finals in 2015, but dropped the series to Minnesota.
This time around, Krauskopf hopes the Fever can take that step.
“We’re sitting here and we have this chance, at this pivotal moment, to really get back to work and finish the unfinished work that we’ve had since 2015,” Krauskopf said.
How Christie Sides Fixed Indiana Fever Culture
In November 2022, Sides entered a franchise that was in desperate need of repair. The franchise had gone through three head coaches in the six years since the departure of White and Fever legend Tamika Catchings, and it had the worst record in the five major American sports combined during that time.
The Fever spent some of those years without a real home: with renovations underway at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, they had played at Butler for part of the season and hosted games at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum (which doubled as a barn during the fair of State) in other parts.
Lexie Hull saw it with her own eyes. The Fever went 5-31 in its first year, a year that saw two different coaches play in a place that smelled of hay and cows for half of it.
With the Fever returning to Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2023, Indiana was in desperate need of a culture shock. And it was Sides who brought that.
“We were really lucky to have him for those two years,” Hull said of Sides on Monday. “She’s really good at bringing people together and building a positive culture, and I think that’s something we really needed.” And I think so, we’re really, really grateful that we got closer and she was at the helm of it, you know, doing a lot of things off the field before practice that really brought us closer together. I think that’s something that’s very valuable in the way she approaches the game. I really wish her the best and I think we’ve progressed as a franchise over these two years.
The first-time head coach had clear expectations for the culture she would establish: it was based on discipline, but also on a team where everyone was valued, regardless of role or outcome of the game. season.
Sides’ first season also came as Indiana secured its first No. 1 pick in history, selecting Aliyah Boston in 2023. The Fever saw immediate improvement with Boston that first year, but still took missed the playoffs.
But missing the playoffs ultimately gave Indiana the No. 1 pick for the second straight season, which turned into Fever draft phenom Caitlin Clark.
“When I came in, she was very excited for us and the team we had,” Boston said. “I just think I’ve made progress from the year before, and the year I had the wins that we have, and then obviously this year when Caitlin came in, the jump that we made as well. I mean, she worked really hard, and I think she left it better than she found it. And so the credit definitely goes to her and the whole staff, because, I mean, they put so much time, so much effort into the games, into practices every day. And so I just continue to wish him the best.
Clark’s arrival in Indiana shook up the franchise in more ways than one. The Iowa star and two-time National Player of the Year has attracted a massive fan base, one the league has never seen before, as well as increased media attention, both home and away .
People were tuning in and watching the games like they never had before. They criticized everything that went wrong, and Clark thought Sides, through it all, handled the pressure like a pro.
“Christie has been one of the best team builders I’ve been around in my career and she’s obviously very grateful for everything she’s done this year,” Clark said. “Obviously it was a big change coming this year, with everything, the spotlight, and I can’t imagine the pressure she felt. I thought she did well, and like those two said, like she really brought us together and was able to build a culture that, you know, needed a little bit of repair, and I think she definitely did. So I’m just grateful for his commitment to the organization.
The Fever, securing their first playoff berth in eight years, lost in the first round to the White-led Connecticut Sun. While White was officially introduced as Fever’s coach on Monday, all three players were excited about her hiring.
“I think we all know how good she is at basketball, but also what a legend she is in Indiana,” Clark said. “So I think it’s really cool.”
This article was originally published on the Indianapolis Star: How Indiana Fever brought Stephanie White back to coach Caitlin Clark
