Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White has taken serious heat this week from media members and fans who believe she isn't doing a good enough job of publicly defending her players. She had a message for those critics today.
At her press conference on Tuesday, White addressed a slew of issues that she has been asked to comment on by the "online community," ranging from the controversial DiJonai Carrington foul to player safety and more.
"This isn't necessarily for people that are in this room. This is more for an online community that is trying to create narratives that simply don't exist. Trying to create a fabrication or distortion of who I am and what I'm about. Our player's success, our player's health and wellness, our player's safety, is always a top priority for me. One of the things I pride myself on is my relationships with players," White began.
"For those who have anything to say about the play in the last game. I didn't see the play in real time. I went straight to a press conference. I thought the play got called right. Thankfully Sophie's OK. Was it egregious? Absolutely. When you have a chance to watch that over and over on replay, you can see that. I didn't have that in real time. I take personally any suggestions that I don't 100-percent always have my players back. I ride with them 10 toes down all the time. All the time. They know that.
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"It's a shame that we can't have an opportunity to talk about what great basketball they're playing. Because they are (expletive) playing. The reality is with me, I will always lead with love. I will always lead with grace. I will always lead with humility. And I will always lead with integrity. It doesn't mean I will always get it right. I'm also human.
"The hate, the fear-mongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's trying to hijack our league will not win. It won't win. We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided. Every day these women put their ass on the line. Every day. When they go low, we go high. Love will win. Grace will win. Humility will win. And kindness will win. I stand by them. I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell."
Too little, too late?
But users on social media don't seem at all willing to give White the benefit of the doubt. Many have dismissed her comments as a simple reaction to the outrage, and not a case of her really practicing what she preaches.
At this point, the only thing for White to do is move on. Her team is now 21-12 and in fourth place on the WNBA table. With just five more wins in the last 11 games, she'll set a new franchise record for wins.
There will be plenty of time in the offseason for White to butt heads with the online community. But for the next two months, she should be locked in.
