Rookie of the Year and superstar Caitlin Clark will not get to have one of the key elements of a good basketball team, cohesiveness and will be introduced to a new coach and system for her second WNBA season.
The Indiana Fever announced Sunday that they fired coach Christie Sides after two seasons at the helm and posting a 33-47 record, with the most recent campaign featuring Clark, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft out of Iowa, and an in-season turnaround for the ages that ended with the No. 6 seed in the playoffs after a brutal 1-8 start.
Indiana, however, was swept by the Connecticut Sun in the first round of the postseason.
“We are incredibly thankful to Coach Sides for embracing the challenge of leading us through an integral transition period over the last two seasons, while also positioning us well for future growth,” Fever president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf said in a statement. “While decisions like these are never easy, it is also imperative that we remain bold and assertive in the pursuit of our goals, which includes maximizing our talent and bringing another WNBA championship back to Indiana.
“Coach Sides was an incredible representative of the Fever and our community, and we wish her nothing but success in the future.”
Earlier this month, Krauskopf, a former Indiana Pacers executive who announced she was returning to the Fever after a lengthy career with the franchise, appeared to give the ‘dreaded vote of confidence’ in Sides.
Embed from Getty Images“It takes time,” Krauskopf said in her introductory news conference. “It took a long time for the teams that I’ve had to jell and to get together, I mean, years. It doesn’t happen in four months. It takes a few years. I was really impressed with the progress that they made and how Christie is a resilient leader. You know, she’s a culture-builder. I know just that she’s got that kind of, you know, stamina to stick to it and stick to her plan, and she’s a good person, and she’s a great leader. I was impressed with the way they finished.”
Clark averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game during her rookie season, winning Rookie of the Year honors, making the All-WNBA First Team and setting countless records throughout the campaign.
Sides was hired after the 2022 campaign to replace Marianne Stanley and her interim successor, Carlos Knox.
Sides had two seasons remaining on a four-year deal. The Fever have gone through a carrousel of coaches and have not had a head coach stay longer than three seasons since Lin Dunn (2008-14).
Sides received the lone Coach of the Year vote that did not go to Cheryl Reeve and Sandy Brondello, who coached WNBA Finals teams in the Lynx and Liberty respectively, this season, but the Chicago Sun-Times reported earlier this week that Sun coach Stephanie White has been in talks with three teams about potentially becoming their coach, including the Fever.
Now half the league, six WNBA teams, have coaching vacancies after the Fever joined the Atlanta Dream, Dallas Wings, Los Angeles Sparks, Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky.
