Stephanie White brushes off heated Caitlin Clark interaction: ‘We’re both competitive. We’re both stubborn’

Caitlin Clark is under a microscope few professional athletes will ever experience, and that impact affects those around her as well.

That includes Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White.

Clark has been feeling the pressure this season as she deals with injuries and concerns about her defensive abilities, while Indiana struggles. Some of the frustrations amid that bubbled up after scrutiny around a late scratch that led to calls for more transparency from White and the Fever around Clark’s status. And things seemingly came to a head on Saturday when Clark and White got into what appeared to be a heated exchange on the bench, leading to White subbing Clark out for another player. The Fever went on to lose that game, their second in a row.

On Monday, Clark and White both spoke to the media and assured the media that there is no animosity between them. Furthermore, they both chided the media for using the incident to further narratives or “get clicks.”

“I think what happened in that moment is I was challenging a player. It’s coaching. It’s what it is,” White told reporters. “I don’t often think it becomes an issue if you’re watching it in men’s sports most of the time.

“My relationship with Caitlin is great. I love Caitlin. I ride with her. We have a great relationship. And I think that the narrative of people trying to make it something that it’s not is just, you know, taking sensationalism to try to get some clicks and all the other stuff.

“She wants to be coached. I want her to help me be a better coach. We’re both competitive. We’re both stubborn. You know, we’re more alike than different. And, you know, hopefully we continue to bring the best out of each other.”

White added that the scrutiny she and Clark are under is due largely to the intense media focus Clark receives.

“It’s not a new thing. It’s just new because everything that she does gets clicks. That’s how everybody makes money, right? That’s how everybody makes money. So it’s not a new thing,” White said.

“When there was player confrontation/tension/coaching 10 years ago when I was doing this, or 15 years ago when I was doing this, however long it was, it wasn’t on social media. That was just getting started, right? It happens in every sport. It happens in all walks of life. You know, so this is not anything that’s new, and it’s not a story.”

Clark echoed White’s sentiments in her meeting with reporters, saying that White is “somebody I will ride for for the rest of my life” and that this is “just another example of what everybody, all of you, want to blow up and make something that is just lost and not in reality.”