INDIANAPOLIS -- Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White gave an impassioned statement to reporters before Tuesday night's 106-92 win over the New York Liberty in which she proclaimed, "The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's trying to hijack our league will not win."
White, who is in her second year as coach of the Fever, was responding in part to what she called "an online community that's trying to create narratives that simply don't exist" after some felt she did not have Sophie Cunningham's back after the Fever guard was on the receiving end of a flagrant foul by Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington on Saturday.
"We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided," White said Tuesday. "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."
White pounded her fist on a table multiple times during her remarks before leaving the room without taking questions from reporters.
Carrington's foul on Saturday was upgraded to a flagrant 2, and she was ejected from the game. Some fans took issue with White's postgame remarks about the Sky guard, with the lieutenant governor of Indiana even calling for White to be fired. Some spectators booed White during Tuesday night's pregame introductions at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
White, who coached Carrington for two seasons with the Connecticut Sun, had said Saturday that officials made the right call against Carrington but also praised her competitive nature.
"Look, it was a hard foul," White said on Saturday about the foul. "It did happen, and I thought it was the right call. One of the things about [Carrington] is that she's going to play her butt off, man. She's going to compete. Nobody's going to go walking in for a layup. I don't oppose the hard foul, but I also don't think that she intentionally went for the neck."
White said on Tuesday that she took issue with critics suggesting she doesn't "100% always have my players' back."
"Our players' success, our players' health and wellness, our players' safety is always a top priority for me," she said. "One of the things I pride myself on is my relationships with players. 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 and over on replay, you can see that. I didn't have that in real time."
White added: "I take personally any suggestions that I don't 100% always have my players' back. I ride with them 10 toes down all the time, all the time. They know that."
White has been in and around the WNBA since 1999, first as a player for the Charlotte Sting and Fever and then as an assistant and now head coach. She served on Lin Dunn's staff in Indiana from 2011 to 2014 before her first stint as head coach for the franchise in 2015-16.
Fever president Kelly Krauskopf issued a statement in support of White on Tuesday.
"Coach White has done a tremendous job leading the Fever and for the second-consecutive season, has us in great position for a playoff push," Krauskopf said in the statement. "She has kept our team focused and united, all while under the brightest spotlight our team and our league have ever experienced. She has the full support of leadership."
The Fever (21-12) are 9-3 over their past 12 games and in position to potentially host playoff games, but they have dealt with several controversies and what White called outside "narratives." Most recently, an ESPN article last month featured Cunningham calling for transgender girls and women to be barred from girls' and women's sports, setting off a storm of conversation about what the WNBA's policy toward transgender athletes should be.
"It's a shame that we can't have an opportunity to talk about what great basketball they're playing because they are f---ing playing," White said Tuesday. "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. Doesn't mean I'll always get it right. I'm also human."
Caitlin Clark, speaking to reporters Tuesday before White's remarks, was asked how the Fever have stayed the course amid so much outside noise and said the team has done a great job of "being resilient."
"It's fun to see how excited and how much fun my teammates have with one another because I feel like a lot of the narratives sometimes are the opposite of that," Clark said. "Some days are going to be great. Some days aren't going to be as great. You just keep getting back up and keep fighting."