Stephanie White boldly set out her championship aspirations for Caitlin Clark and her team-mates following her return to the Indiana Fever as head coach.
After a season where the Fever reached the playoffs, only to be swiftly ousted by White’s Connecticut Sun in the first round, Christie Sides was fired, paving the way for her comeback. She had previously held roles both as head and assistant coach with the team.
The common opinion was that Sides hadn’t fully harnessed Clark’s abilities. Consequently, much will depend on the Rookie of the Year’s rapport with White, 47, which could prove pivotal to the Fever’s quest for a title.
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White certainly hasn’t been shy about her ambitions. During an interview with The Fan – Indianapolis, when quizzed about the Fever’s trajectory, White did not hesitate to spell out her objective in four words. “It’s competing for championships,” she established.
She added: “The expectation was always to be competing for championships, and I think now we have an opportunity again to be doing that.”
While it’s uncertain whether this goal is achievable next year or further in the future, White concedes that such advancements will take time.
Undoubtedly, Clark will be central to White’s strategy. The coach recognizes the 22-year-old as a “generational talent” and also holds Aliyah Boston in high regard, predicting she will “go down in history as probably the best center that we’ve seen in our league”.
White said: “You think about building around those two, championships is the expectation. You compete for championships year in and year out.”
The buzz around the WNBA has never been louder as White makes her return to Indiana, with Clark’s rising fame being a key driver of the league’s popularity surge, according basketball icon Sue Bird. On The Deal podcast, she claimed: “Even if you look at the 2023 viewership in the WNBA Finals, it was way higher than 2022.
“It was starting, the fire was there. But Caitlin came and she poured gasoline all over that thing and just took it to another level.”
