Fever HC Sends a Powerful WNBA Lesson by Capturing Fever’s Rare Milestone Without Caitlin Clark

It hasn’t exactly been a warm homecoming for Stephanie White. With the Big 3 intact and her proven leadership to attest, Kelly Krauskopf hadn’t hesitated in believing White was equipped enough to lead her players to the next level. But what was supposed to be a top-4 run is now marred with injuries, criticised rotations, and disappointing late-game let-ups. And in the aftermath? The Indiana Fever now barely hangs on in the playoff race. However, is there one optimistic outlook in the chaos that the critics are missing?

Given that the Fever have failed to secure a playoff berth so late into the season, criticism around the head coach has intensified over the course. One fan even left a sharp comment on YouTube saying, “Everybody that wants to keep, or get media credentials are giving Steph White a pass….She’s terrible.” It summed up the scrutiny around White for her rotations, timeouts, and blunt postgame comments. The suggestion was that media voices were too soft on White and her coaching. But that argument was about to be tested against something more concrete than opinion.

@Robin Lundberg jumped in on the same video with a reply that turned the discussion into a headline of its own. He argued the facts, saying, “The Fever have a better record this year than they did last year. And that’s with Caitlin Clark missing essentially the entire season… They are still top six in the league in net rating. They’re seventh in defense and fourth in offense… Reality defends the coach of the Fever.”

Here’s the truth in plain sight: the Fever posted a better record without Clark in 2025 than they did with her in 2024.

Entering the season with high hopes, the Fever were suddenly forced to compete without the player who averaged 19.2 points per game in her rookie season and had helped snap a 6-year playoff drought. The HC had strategized for and around her even before the off-season practices had tipped off. “Her strength, her ability to now make plays that people don’t think about … for a person of her caliber, it seems small, but it can be the difference between her having 25 or 28 (points), 10 to 12 assists,” Kelsey Mitchell had summed up Clark’s necessity.

But here we are, 27 games without their offensive anchor, and White has guided them to 21–19, good for a .525 win percentage. Their best mark in nearly a decade. They did it while running through 17 different players due to injuries and hardship contracts. And still ranked sixth in net rating, fourth in offense, and seventh in defense.

White herself had said before the season, “The biggest challenge for this group is we’ve gotta go from 11th or 12th in the defensive end of the floor to the middle of the pack.” That challenge turned into reality as the Fever improved dramatically on that end– the 15th-highest defensive leap in WNBA history.

Furthermore, White not only kept the Fever afloat, she gave them their first back-to-back winning seasons since Tamika Catchings retired. Her system has allowed Kelsey Mitchell to take over scoring duties at more than 20 points per game. And Aliyah Boston to expand her role into a true two way anchor. Natasha Howard chipped in big nights on the glass, and role players rotated in and out without the team collapsing.

The debate around White is not over as the Fever slip down to the 8th spot with 4 games remaining. Yet the record shows White can reshape a system, demand accountability, and build depth even when the biggest piece is missing. And it leads right back to Clark herself, whose rookie season set the stage for why this improvement matters so much.

What Caitlin Clark’s presence meant in the HC’s words.

Caitlin Clark’s rookie season was not just good, it was transformational.

• She led the entire league in assists with 8.4 per game, poured in 19.2 points.
• She became the first rookie in history to record a triple-double. Twice.
• Her 122 three pointers ranked second all time in a single season
• She shattered the single-game assist record with 19.
• By the time the year ended, she was WNBA Rookie of the Year, All WNBA First Team, and a Time Magazine Athlete of the Year.

That Caitlin Clark did without adequate transition time from college to the pros. So with a packed off season working on strength & conditioning, ranges in her finishes, and increased time off the ball, White was looking forward to an advantageous year.

“She demands so much gravity on the defensive end of the floor,” White had expressed. “She’s constantly seeing multiple players, and she makes the right reads and the right plays for our group. So she’s going to continue to allow us to stretch the floor.”

But the Fever have learnt to adjust without their star player. And in her absence, they even went on a 5-game win streak. From a 1–8 start to finishing sixth in the league, Clark’s presence had given the 2024 Fever credibility they had not had since Catchings retired. That transformation is what makes the 2025 story even more powerful. By proving they can win without Clark, the Fever showed resilience and growth are possible regardless of circumstances.