Kelsey Mitchell's Praise Brings Stephanie White to Tears After Fever Beat Dream
The Indiana Fever just pulled off what once felt impossible, as they beat the Atlanta Dream on the road by a score of 87-85 on September 18. But this wasn't just any other win, of course. It means that the Fever overcame the Dream in their first-round series of the WNBA playoffs, thus making Indiana advance to the WNBA Semifinals.
Regardless of what the rest of the postseason has in store, it's truly remarkable that Indiana has made it this far, given all the adversity and injuries they have had to deal with to this point. While they were considered WNBA contenders heading into this 2025 campaign, most questioned whether they'd have enough firepower to even make it to the playoffs, let alone secure an upset against the No. 3-seeded team.
And those who know basketball know that Fever head coach Stephanie White deserves a ton of credit for this success, as her leadership has helped turn the Fever into the tenacious and gritty team that just won its first WNBA playoff series since 2015.
Kelsey Mitchell Makes Stephanie White Emotional During Fever Postgame Presser
White has gotten emotional when talking about her team's resilience several times this season. However, when speaking with the media after Thursday's win, White got emotional over something star guard Kelsey Mitchell said about her.
"I've had five coaches in eight years. I've been on the worst record teams here in [the] Indiana Fever, so I know where my career started at... And I've never had a coach that poured into me, respectfully, like Steph has," Mitchell said while White was sitting next to her, per a video from the WNBA's YouTube account.
"I've never really felt that as a pro, and for the first time in my career, I feel like I really have someone that values what I bring to the table as a player and a person. Not just as a player, but as a person. And so I'll always love Steph, because she gave me an opportunity to kind of be who I am. And it's hard to do that... and when you find coaches who believe in you, I'll never take it for granted. So thank you, coach," Mitchell continued, putting White on the back.
By the end of Mitchell's monologue, White was visibly emotional, even wiping tears from under her glasses.
As if it wasn't already clear how much White is adored by her players, Mitchell's sentiment puts an exclamation point on that.
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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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