Stephanie White’s stance on the Sophie Cunningham-DiJonai Carrington incident has Indiana Fever fans fuming. And, in the eyes of many supporters, rightfully so. Few fans expect their team’s head coach to defend an opponent after a Flagrant 2 foul against one of her own players. Stephanie White, however, appeared to sympathize with Carrington’s intentions while defending her former player. A stance that has once again put her on the wrong side of a section of the Indiana Fever fanbase.

WNBA analyst Ben Daniels shared the same frustration on his YouTube channel, launching a scathing criticism of the Fever head coach.

“There’s no way, right? There’s no way Stephanie White is going to sit there on the sidelines, watch DJ Carrington clearly target and clothesline Sophie Cunningham, and then get on the podium in front of reporters and defend DJ Carrington. Right?” What began as a rhetorical question from Daniels quickly turned into a furious attack on White.

“Stephanie White goes on the podium and refuses to back up her player, Sophie Cunningham,” he said on his podcast. “Stephanie White, like we’ve said this time and time again, a snake in the grass. She needs to go. She needs to get fired.”

This sentiment has time and again echoed through sections of the Indiana Fever fanbase, with some fans questioning whether White has consistently stood behind her players during controversial moments. Daniels also brought up another incident involving White and Caitlin Clark.

“She refused to stand up for Caitlin Clark when Caitlin Clark got a fist in her throat,” the WNBA analyst said. The accusation refers to the infamous incident involving Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas and Clark. During a June matchup, Thomas made contact with Clark’s throat with her fist during a scramble for the ball. The WNBA later assessed Thomas a Flagrant 2 and suspended her for one game. However, there is an important distinction in White’s response to that incident.

White did not defend Thomas’ actions on the court. In fact, she called the contact “egregious” and “utterly disrespectful,” while criticizing officials for failing to call a foul during the game. The Fever HC later came to Thomas’ defense after the Mercury star faced racist abuse and threats following the incident. White condemned that online harassment, arguing that the response had crossed the line into racism and hate.

“As a league, there’s been so much more toxicity, racism, homophobia, straight out nonsense. Hate (and) nonsense… And it is absolutely unacceptable. Most of this (is) coming from the online community. Most of this, in my heart of hearts, I believe is not coming from WNBA fans, Indiana Fever fans. I believe that this is people who are using our league, using our players to further divisive agendas,” she said.

While White’s defense against online harassment was focused on protecting Thomas from abuse, not everyone among the Fever fanbase was impressed. Especially because Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts had publicly questioned Thomas’ one-game suspension, calling the league’s investigation insufficient and defending his player.

Now, after White’s comments regarding Carrington’s Flagrant 2 against Sophie Cunningham, that previous episode has resurfaced in the debate over whether the Fever head coach is willing to be as forceful in defending her own players as she is in defending players on the opposing side.