Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell revealed her true feelings about fans booing head coach Stephanie White.
During their previous game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday, fans booed White after her recent comments about Dijonai Carrington's hard foul on Sophie Cunningham. The Fever coach praised Carrington's style of play, seemingly implying that the foul may not have been intentional.
Ahead of their game against the Dallas Wings on Friday, Mitchell was asked during practice about how she felt about the fans’ negative reception of coach White. The four-time WNBA All-Star didn’t hold back, expressing her disappointment with their fanbase.
“I told her to her face, I said, ‘Coach, this is for you in terms of just a sense of confidence, a sense of awareness of that you’re not alone,’” Mitchell said. “If anybody knows me, it’s like I don’t play that. So it really hurt my feelings to see kinda have her emotions in terms of not feeling valued or feeling wanted at a place where she has to coach.”
The former Ohio State University standout also shared how she and her teammates are looking after their coach during this tough period.
“At the end of the day, this is her job," Mitchell said. "And so you know she has to show too. And I think that people don’t really recognize that.
"I think it’s our job to remind her it’s our culture. I think we have to remind her that our culture is not going to let her fall to the wayside. So I hope she knows that.”
Mitchell and Co. have a crucial matchup against Dallas coming up. The Fever head into Friday's game with a 21-12 record and fifth in the standings.
