INDIANAPOLIS — Three days after the Indiana Fever‘s season ended with a loss in the WNBA semifinals, coach Stephanie White appeared on sports radio show Query & Company with some strong words of support for her injured star player Caitlin Clark whose name has been swirling amid the league’s contentious collective bargaining agreement with its players’ association.
“I hate it all for Caitlin. You know, she’s a 23-year-old kid who loves to play this game who is a pawn in a lot of other people’s games and a lot of other people’s narratives,” White told Query on Friday’s show on 107.5 The Fan. “And I hate that for her.”
In her exit interview earlier this week, players’ association vice president Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx relayed a conversation she had with WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert in which Engelbert allegedly said Clark owes her off-the-court income to the exposure she receives from the league.
White went on to praise the way Clark handles the scrutiny that comes her way.
“She is so mature for her age. I mean, Jake, think back to when we were 23 years old. Holy cow. But she’s so mature. She has people in her corner and people that can help her,” White said. “She gets it. She understands the big picture.”
White said she has conversations with Clark to help guide her, but acknowledged she has never been in Clark’s shoes.
“No one outside of a Tiger Woods, a Serena Williams, you can probably name just maybe a handful more of athletes who have been the game changers and who have experienced what Caitlin Clark is experiencing,” White said. “(Other than that), no one can really relate to what she’s going through.
“I think the biggest thing is we can be there for her. We can offer perspective and do what we can to help deflect and navigate. But at the same time, it’s a life that she has to lead. And I think she does it admirably … with so much grace and humility.”
‘We just want some accountability’
As the interview was wrapping up Friday, Query asked White, “Do you believe the WNBA has the leadership right now that it needs?”
“It’s a tough question because I do believe that where we are and where we have been, especially from a business standpoint, it’s what we’ve needed,” White said. “I do think that there’s another layer and level to having someone who understands the basketball side of the league and whether that’s direct leadership or whether that’s building out our basketball operations, our department within the league.”
White suggested getting “former players involved” in the basketball operations side of the WNBA.
“The more that we can get people who have grown up in this league who don’t see this league as it was 10 years ago, as it was 15 years ago. You’ve got to see the league for what it is now and where it’s going,” she said. “The WNBA is not what it was 10 years ago. And I do think that there are some folks in leadership positions who still think of it that way.”
White said the league would improve with “some forward thinking.”
“But more than anything, accountability can go a long way. And, we just want some accountability for some of the concerns that have been consistent concerns for multiple years,” said White. “And part of leadership is taking accountability. Part of leadership is owning how we move the needle. Part of leadership is not just recognizing the people who are part of this league, but empowering and embracing and understanding what they bring.
“And your employees are your No. 1 asset. We are at a pivotal moment. We are at a time where all things have to be considered, and where multiple truths do exist certainly. I think that sometimes right now in our country and in our world, we forget that multiple truths can exist. But we are at that point to begin to have these very hard conversations about what it looks like moving forward.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on X: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.