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Caitlin Clark Contains Fever Coach Crash Out Amid Playoff Technical Foul Frustration

Caitlin Clark was one of several Indiana Fever players who tried to rein Stephanie White in during a referee crash out on September 14.
Grant Young|
Aug 1, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and guard Caitlin Clark (22) react to a call during the first half against the Dallas Wings at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images
Aug 1, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and guard Caitlin Clark (22) react to a call during the first half against the Dallas Wings at the American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images | Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

The Indiana Fever now have their backs against the wall in their first-round WNBA playoffs series against the Atlanta Dream, as they suffered an 80-68 defeat in the first game of their best-of-three series on September 14.

The injury-depleted Fever got off to a fantastic start against the No. 3-seeded Dream, as they jumped out to a 15-6 lead to start the game and were ahead for much of the first two quarters before Atlanta went on a run to give them a lead at halftime.

The Fever had several factors working against them in the second half. One of which is the game's referees, at least according to head coach Stephanie White.

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White celebrates with Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White celebrates with Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (0) on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, during a game between the Indiana Fever and the Minnesota Lynx at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. The Indiana Fever defeated the Minnesota Lynx, 83-72. | Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The Fever had possession of the ball about 90 seconds into the fourth quarter when a dead ball was called. The game's broadcast immediately called attention to the fact that somebody was about to get a technical foul called on them.

That person was Stephanie White, as she was in the midst of screaming at one of the game's referees for what she thought was clearly a mistake.

ESPN's X account posted a video of this interaction with the caption, "Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White received a technical foul after arguing with the officials."

Caitlin Clark Helps Contain Stephanie White's Crash Out

The Fever are already handicapped in this game because of the staggering number of season-ending injuries they've had to deal with. The most notable of these is star point guard Caitlin Clark.

While she can't compete in the game, Clark has been on the Fever's bench on Sunday to support her team. And fans were quick to notice that No. 22 was among a few players who were supporting Stephanie White from getting thrown out of the game in the wake of her getting a technical called on her.

X user @nosyone4 posted a video of Clark coming on screen at the end of White's verbal crash out to help usher her head coach back to their team's bench. The video was captioned, "Caitlin on deescalation duty".

This caption is a reference to the Fever's "Caitlin Clark de-escalation committee" during the 2024 season, where several players on the Fever roster would try to contain Clark while she was arguing (or wanted to argue) with referees in hopes of keeping her from receiving a technical.

Sometimes this committee worked, sometimes it didn't. It certainly didn't work for Stephanie White on Sunday.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the Indiana Fever and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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