INDIANAPOLIS — When Indiana Fever president Kelly Krauskopf returned to the franchise in early October, she brought a fresh perspective.

Krauskopf was president and general manager from 2000-18 but left to work for the Pacers from 2018-24. When former president Allison Barber stepped down after this past season, Krauskopf returned to the franchise she helped build.

“I had an opportunity to evaluate and fully look at everything,” Krauskopf said. “My challenge was, where do we need to make improvements? Where can we get better? And how do we expedite this process? From what I saw in the two years of watching, where I sat, Christie Sides did a great job. And as we move forward, my thought process was, how do we maximize what we have, and how do we jump on this opportunity now?”

That included changes to general manager and head coach, Lin Dunn and Sides, respectively.

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Dunn moved from her GM position to become a senior advisor. Krauskopf then hired Amber Cox away from the Dallas Wings to be Indiana’s new COO and GM.

Krauskopf took longer to evaluate the head coach position, and eventually decided to fire Sides, who had a 33-47 record in two seasons as Indiana’s coach. Sides saw improvement in each of her two seasons: the Fever went from five wins in 2022 to 13 wins in her first season in 2023, then improved to 20 wins and a playoff berth in 2024. It was Indiana’s first playoff berth since 2016 — when ironically Stephanie White was head coach.

Still, Krauskopf saw an opportunity she couldn’t pass up in White, an experienced coach who knows what it’s like to win at the highest levels. And that meant she needed to let Sides go.

“We had made a decision that we were going to move on, and that was tough, because it doesn't take away from anything that Christie did, or what that coaching staff did,” Krauskopf said. "And to use her words, she left it better than she found it. But we're looking forward, and this is about the next phase in the next era of what we're building here.”

How Christie Sides’ firing and Stephanie White’s hiring coincided

The Fever didn’t announce they were parting ways with Sides until the end of October — a month after Indiana’s season finished and a week after the New York Liberty were crowned WNBA champions. It was odd timing, especially for a franchise that had relative success in 2024. But the Fever were already in contact with White before they made the official decision to fire Sides.

White and Krauskopf have a long history: Krauskopf was the one to trade for White during the Fever’s expansion draft in 2000, then hired her as an assistant coach in 2011 and head coach in 2015.

White is also from West Lebanon, Ind., just 1.5 hours from Indianapolis. Her family, which includes her partner, ESPN Monday Night Football sideline reporter Lisa Salters, and their four children are based in Nashville, a four-hour drive from Indianapolis.

Krauskopf first reached out to White after hearing about her family emergency following the WNBA season, then heard from her agent that White may be interested in leaving the Sun.

“I had heard from her agent that there might be a change… He was like, ‘It may be something where she might be returning.’ So I said, ‘Well, let me know. Keep me posted.’” Krauskopf told IndyStar. “A week or so went by, and then once they got word that Connecticut was going to allow her to talk to teams, we were sort of at the point where we were also making the decision that we were going to move away from Christie and kind of move on. And I had some other names assembled, so it was just like a fortuitous moment.”

The reports first linking White to the Fever were reported by the Chicago Sun-Times’ Annie Costabile. She reported White was considering the Sky, Fever and Sun on Oct. 23, despite a year left on her contract with Connecticut.

White said her agent got a lot of inquiries from teams. As she was still under contract with the Sun, she needed permission from Sun president Jennifer Rizzotti to talk with the Fever or any other franchise interested in her.

“When the opportunity presented itself to maybe talk to Indiana, I talked to Jen, and I think she recognized just what a unique opportunity this was for me,” White said. “It's not comparing apples to apples, and she graciously allowed me to talk to them. And you know, I'm thankful for Jen for getting me back into the WNBA. I absolutely loved working with the Connecticut Sun organization, but for me, it's just a no brainer, the opportunity to come back home to work with this team and this franchise.”

Indiana fired Sides on Oct. 27. Connecticut announced it parted ways with White a day later.

Then, on Nov. 1, it was made official: White was the Fever’s new head coach. With seven teams searching for new coaches this offseason, Indiana’s vacancy was the shortest.

White not only has the familial ties to Indiana, but she’s the one the Fever front office think can take Indiana to the championship. It nearly happened once before: White led the Fever to the WNBA Finals in 2015, but dropped the series to Minnesota.

This time around, Krauskopf hopes the Fever can take that leap.

“We're sitting here and that we have this chance to, at this pivotal time, to really go back to work and finish the unfinished business that we had from 2015,” Krauskopf said.

How Christie Sides fixed Indiana Fever culture

In Nov. 2022, Sides came into a franchise that was in desperate need of repair. The franchise had gone through three head coaches in the six years since White left and Fever legend Tamika Catchings retired, and it had the worst record in the five major U.S. sports combined during that time.

The Fever spent some of those years without a true home: with renovations going on at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, they had played at Butler for parts of the season and hosted games at the Indiana Farmers Coliseum (which doubled as a barn during the state fair) in other parts.

Lexie Hull saw it firsthand. The Fever went 5-31 during her rookie year, one that saw two different coaches, playing in a place that smelled of hay and cows for half of it.

With the Fever finally moving back into Gainbridge Fieldhouse in 2023, Indiana was in desperate need of a culture shock. And Sides was the one to bring that.

“We were really lucky to have her for those two years,” Hull said of Sides on Monday. “She's really good at pulling people together and building a positive culture, and I think that's something that we really needed. And I think, yeah, we're just really grateful that we've gotten close and she was the head of that, you know, doing a lot of things off the court before practice that really brought us together. I think that's something that's very valuable in how she approaches the game. I definitely wish her the best, and I do think we progressed as a franchise over those two years.”

The first-time head coach had clear expectations for the culture she was going to set: it was based on discipline, but also a team where everyone was valued, no matter the role or the result of the season.

Sides’ first season also came as Indiana got its first No. 1 pick in history, selecting Aliyah Boston in 2023. The Fever saw immediate improvement with Boston that first year, but still missed the playoffs.

But missing the playoffs eventually gave Indiana the No. 1 pick for the second straight season, which turned into the Fever drafting phenom Caitlin Clark.

“When I came in, she was super excited for us and the team we had,” Boston said. “I think just making that progress from the year before, and the year I came in to the wins we have, and then obviously this year when Caitlin came in, the jump that we made as well. I mean, she worked really hard, and I think she did leave it better than she found it. And so definitely credit goes to her and the entire staff, because, I mean, they put in so much time, so much effort into the games, into practices every single day. And so I just continue to wish her the best.”

Clark coming to Indiana turned the franchise on its head in more ways than one. The Iowa star and two-time National Player of the Year brought a massive fanbase, one the league has never seen before, as well as increased media attention, home and away.

People were tuning in and attending games like they never had before. They were criticizing anything and everything that went wrong, and Clark thought Sides, through all of that, dealt with the pressure like a pro.

“Christie has been one of the best team builders I've been around in my career, and obviously very grateful with everything that she did this year,” Clark said. “Obviously, it was a big change coming this year, with everything, the spotlight, and I can't imagine the pressure she felt. I thought she did well with it, and like those two said, like she really brought us together and was able to build a culture that, you know, needed a little bit of repair, and I think she definitely did that. So just thankful for her commitment to the organization.”

The Fever, making their first playoff berth in eight years, lost in the first round to the White-led Connecticut Sun. With White officially being introduced as the Fever’s coach Monday, all three players were excited about her hiring.

“I think we all know, like, how good of a basketball mind she is, but also how much of a legend she is in Indiana,” Clark said. “So I think that's really cool.”

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: How Indiana Fever brought Stephanie White back to coach Caitlin Clark