"Be a fan. Don’t be a jerk": Stephanie White delivers passionate statement on alleged hate toward Angel Reese and Sky from Fever fans

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White welcomes the immense support they are receiving from their fan base. She, however, advised their fans not to go overboard and be hateful towards opposing players and teams.

She made it clear on practice on Monday amid an ongoing investigation by the WNBA on alleged hateful comments hurled against Angel Reese and the Chicago Sky in their season-opener on Saturday in Indianapolis.

"First of all, we told the team that obviously we're gonna cooperate fully with the investigation," Stephanie White said. "But there's no place for that (hateful comments) in our league whether it's at home, whether it's on the road, it doesn't matter.

"I always say, 'Be a fan. Don’t be a jerk.' Be respectful and be passionate, but it's not that hard to not be a jerk.”

The Fever dominated the Sky in their season-opener on their way to the 93-58 victory.

A brief skirmish between young stars Caitlin Clark and Angel Reese took place midway through the third quarter after the Fever guard was called for a foul over her Sky rival, which was later elevated to a flagrant foul 1.

While taking her free throws, Reese allegedly received racial slurs and hateful comments from the home fans, which moved the WNBA to conduct an investigation.

Clark defended her foul as a legitimate basketball play but respected the decision of the game officials to elevate it to a flagrant foul.

While she took issue with the foul in the immediate aftermath, Reese, for her part, brushed it off following the game, saying it was a basketball move, and she was moving on.

Stephanie White defends Caitlin Clark's hard foul on Angel Reese

Like Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White did not put too much into the hard foul assessed on their star guard on Angel Reese. She said it was a legitimate play on the ball and was well within their tactics of making it tougher for their opponents.

She touched on it during the postgame press conference following their 93-58 victory over the Chicago Sky on Saturday to start off their 2025 WNBA campaign on a winning note.

"Nobody's going to get anything easy against us," White said. "We're going to be a tough defensive team. I thought it was a clear play on the ball as well. One of the points of emphasis is we can't give up. But I thought it was a clear play on the ball."

Stephanie White and the Fever will go for their second straight victory on Tuesday as they host the Atlanta Dream at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.