Stephanie White Missed a Chance to Have Caitlin Clark's Back
Caitlin Clark and Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White had a slightly different approach when discussing the technical foul Clark received in the midst of a skirmish between the Fever and Phoenix Mercury on Monday.
When asked about the technical postgame, Clark had this to say:
"Yeah, it's ridiculous. I got a technical for clapping. We should all go and pick a game on the calendar that I'm going to get suspended for if I'm going to get technicals for clapping...if any technical should be taken away, it should be that one if it's truly for clapping. That's what they said they gave it to me for, was for clapping. It's just ridiculous. I don't understand it all."
When pressed on how aware she needs to be about her current technical foul count, which stands at 5, with 8 triggering a WNBA suspension, Clark didn't back down.
"I'm going to play with emotion, I'm going to play with passion and if they're going to give me a technical foul for clapping, then so be it, that's their choice. The league can come back and review that play and I'd love to hear what they say of the reasoning of why I got a technical foul in that situation and why other players on their team didn't get a technical foul in that situation," she stated.
"That's what I went to Gerda [referee Gerda Gatling] and said, 'why'd you give me a technical foul?' She said because I was clapping and instigating. I said, ok, then you just don't like competitive basketball. And that's just facts, that's just reality. Disappointing from them," Clark concluded.
White had a more measured and reserved approach to the same circumstances when asked a similar question about how aware Clark needs to be in that moment.
"She's gotta be aware, certainly. I think there are some that we could do without. There are natural things that happen, the energy the game creates when you do get those. But there are some that we can be a little more in control. And so yes, we'll continue to remind her. And I think she has to have an awareness."
To be clear, White isn't wrong, and she did chalk up the initial fracas as the competitive nature of the game. She also seemed to be referring to Clark's accumulated technicals, some of which she could and should have avoided by keeping herself more in check and composed.
But at the same time, this felt like a missed opportunity to stand up for Clark and have her back.
Clark's play was the reason the Fever were able to come away with a win, and given the fairly tame reason she picked up a tech, this could have been a chance for the coach to make a point—especially considering her lack of challenges on calls against Clark has already been a talking point.
Clark Appreciates When Fever Have Her Back
White couldn't have literally challenged the technical, but she could have challenged the spirit of it. The same thing goes for her remarks regarding how the rest of the team handled the situation.
All in all, five technicals were handed out in an exchange that saw Sophie Cunningham and Myisha Hines-Allen get involved after Clark and former teammate DeWanna Bonner were jawing. Hines-Allen later picked up another tech and was ejected.
There is some history involved given how short Bonner's tenure in Indiana was and considering her exit was abrupt. That likely led to tempers flaring.
Given the Fever won, the whole ordeal could be spun as a way to rally the troops, even if cooler heads perhaps should have prevailed. But again, White took the tack of attempting to teach a lesson.
"As a group, we have to able to have our moment and play with poise and composure. It can't continue to go on."
Again, she's not wrong, but a message backing the players more may have landed better publicly, with that one delivered privately.
Once more, there was some contrast in how Clark took things.
"I appreciate My[isha Hines-Allen] having my back. It's nice to have a teammate like that, that's always going to go to battle for their teammates. I thought we did a good job of refocusing," she said.
This all lines up with how she has approached these situations in the past, even saying this about a technical foul White received in a game against the Chicago Sky earlier in the season.
"I was glad to see Steph get a technical. If your coach gets a technical, that fight should fire the team up. You should want to go to war after that."
Considering this contest featured some bad blood, a questionable travel call against Clark, and a play where she nearly ate an elbow thrown by Alyssa Thomas — only for Clark to be the one called for the foul on the play — it's probably not reading into things too much to suspect Clark would have preferred White take a more animated approach to things both during and after the game.
AT gets called for the foul for elbowing Caitlin the call is challenged and OVERTURNED to a foul on Caitlin. Caitlin then cheers when AT misses both free throws LMFAOOOOO pic.twitter.com/RMgPI6DgWw
— correlation (@nosyone4) June 23, 2026
Meaning, even if White was technically correct, the circumstances may have called for a different tack—and a chance to have Clark and the rest of the Fever's back.
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Robin Lundberg is a media veteran and hoops head who has spent the bulk of his career with iconic brands like Sports Illustrated and ESPN. His insights have also been featured on platforms such as Fox and CNN and he can currently be heard hosting shows for Sirius XM and on his popular YouTube channel. And now he brings his basketball expertise to Women's Fastbreak On SI and Indiana Fever On SI!
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