Caitlin Clark’s injury forces Stephanie White to take drastic measures

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White has exhibited a favorable mindset toward officiating for pretty much the entire season.

The former WNBA Coach of the Year is part of an officiating task force recently formed to improve officiating across the league. As such, White has been generally positive when talking about the referees this season. So much so that some fans have criticized her for supposedly not siding with her players.

Everything changed on Wednesday night, though, after Caitlin Clark suffered an injury in their 111-109 loss to the Phoenix Mercury. White did not hold back as she blatantly called out how poorly the game was called.

The Fever lost Clark in the third quarter of Wednesday’s game. She first tweaked her back in the second quarter after a Mercury player violated her landing space on a three-point attempt.

Clark headed to the locker room in the third quarter and was unable to return. The Fever later ruled out the two-time All-Star for the rest of the game.

In a separate incident, Mercury star Alyssa Thomas was seen seemingly driving her fist into Clark’s neck as the latter fell to the floor.

Alyssa Thomas with the fist to Caitlin Clark’s throat. Play on, of course. pic.twitter.com/EdcOY6zgKc

— Heavens! (@HeavensFX) June 25, 2026

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White slams refs after Caitlin Clark injury

For Coach White, enough is enough.

“I just saw it,” the Fever coach said on the Clark-Thomas incident. “I’m not sure if it had any impact on her health or not.

“But it was egregious. The fact that it was a no-call. I heard about it at halftime. I brought it to the attention of the officials at halftime. Yet, we still had 11 fouls in the fourth quarter to their two. They still shot 24 free throws in the second half.”

White was fuming. She did not hold back in criticizing the referees after their performance in the game.

“Number one, you gotta call it,” White continued. “It’s absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful.

“And then number two, you’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago, and that [expletive] still happens. Absolutely unacceptable. Absolutely unacceptable.”

White also addressed the second-quarter foul on Clark that led to her injury. She described it as a “reckless closeout,” claiming that it was “absolutely disrespectful” that the foul was not upgraded to a flagrant.

“We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called,” White said. “And I just say again, absolutely unacceptable!”

White concluded her unfiltered tirade by accusing the game officials of treating Clark differently.

“We spent all offseason looking at officiating,” said the 48-year-old coach. “All offseason. And I still say the one thing that we keep asking for is consistency. She is not called the same way everybody else is called.”

White could face a fine for her comments here, but this recent development involving her superstar has forced the coach to take drastic measures in response to what she believes is unjust officiating.

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