Half of the teams in the WNBA are now without a head coach.
On Sunday, the Indiana Fever announced that organization was letting go of head coach Christie Sides after two seasons. She is the sixth head coach to be fired since the end of the 2024 regular season.
In 2024, Sides navigated early-season turbulence, from on-court struggles to the off-court spotlight that came with No. 1 pick and eventual Rookie of the Year Caitlin Clark, to led the Fever to a 20-20 record and playoff berth, the franchise’s best season since 2016. Sides was the WNBA’s Coach of the Month for August. She also received a one Coach of the Year vote.
Yet, Indiana, like much of the WNBA, seems infected with a lack of patience, rather than a spirit of perseverance. This posture also diverges from the sentiment expressed by Kelly Krauskopf, who recently returned to the Fever as the franchise’s president after serving as an executive with the Pacers since 2018. At her introductory news conference, Krauskopf appeared to give Sides a vote of confidence, saying:
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…
