Indiana Fever On SI

Fever Fans Sense Christie Sides Shade Amid Aliyah Boston's Practice Praise

Aliyah Boston's response to a question about Stephanie White's practices has brought former Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides to top of mind.
Grant Young|
Jun 23, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides reacts during the first half of a basketball game against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images
Jun 23, 2024; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides reacts during the first half of a basketball game against the Chicago Sky at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images | Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images

While Indiana Fever fans were excited for the start of 2025 WNBA training camp for several reasons, one is that they would finally get to see how the team looks under new head coach Stephanie White.

White took over this past offseason for Christie Sides, who the Fever parted ways after two seasons leading the team. Sides received a lot of criticism during the 2024 season, including how she juggled the minutes players would receive, her coaching late in games, and even how she ran her practices.

Fever players didn't call Sides out publicly. However, when star center Aliyah Boston spoke with the media after Sunday's practice, Indiana fans seemed to think she let some subtle Sides shade slip.

When asked how White runs her practices, Boston said, "It's just, I mean, it's different from what we have been used to here," per an X post from @clrkszn.

"But it's pretty great. I think she gets to the point, we do what we have to do, and then we get on to the next thing... So it's kind of on us on how we move through the workout and the practice. But it has been pretty great, and I think today was a great first day," she continued.

The first half of this response is bringing Sides to mind.

"shes calling sides a bum 😭😭😭," one fan wrote in a response to the clip.

Another added, "sides shade always makes me giggle everytime but ab so classy with it she not tryna say too much 🤭".

"😂😂😂😂 She tried her best to be nice to Sides," wrote a third.

This likely won't be the last time that White is compared favorably to Sides.

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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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