UPDATE: Indiana Fever fire coach Christie Sides after two seasons

Christie Sides (Indiana Fever photo)

The Indiana Fever fired coach Christie Sides on Sunday, the organization announced.

Sides went 33-47 in her two seasons with the squad, including going 20-20 this season. The Fever made the WNBA playoffs as the sixth seed and were swept in the first round by the Connecticut Sun.

Indiana is the sixth team to make a coaching change this offseason, joining Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington and Los Angeles. All of the coaches let go had three years or less experience.

Media speculation after Sunday’s announcement landed solidly on Connecticut Sun Coach Stephanie White as a likely candidate to replace Sides. The Chicago Sun-Times reported that White has been in talks with the Fever and the Chicago Sky about coaching, but Indiana would be a more likely spot based on White’s deep ties to the organization and the state.

“Multiple sources expect White to be the Fever’s next coach,” Annie Costabile of the Chicago Sun-Times wrote Sunday.

As a player, White was 1995 Indiana Miss Basketball at Seeger High School in West Lebanon and led Purdue University to the 1999 NCAA championship under Coach Linn Dunn. She played five WNBA seasons, including four with the Fever.

As a coach, she was an assistant at Ball State University and spent three seasons (2011-14) under Dunn with the Fever, winning the WNBA title in 2012. She spent two years as head coach of the Fever, making the WNBA Finals in 2015 and qualifying for the playoffs in 2016 before leaving to coach Vanderbilt University from 2016-21.

She has one season remaining on her Sun contract, which could present a hurdle if Connecticut doesn’t agree to let her out of it.

Whoever takes over the Fever will have a strong young core to work with, led by Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. The pair have won the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year awards.

“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.

“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.”

Krauskopf came back to the Fever earlier this month after spending time with Indiana Pacers.

In early October, the Fever named veteran sports executive Amber Cox as the team’s new chief operating officer and general manager.

Cox, who spent the past two seasons as chief operating officer of the Dallas Wings, replaced Dunn, who moved into the role of senior adviser to the franchise.

Sides was a longtime assistant in the league, spending time with Chicago (2011-16), the Fever (2017-19) and Atlanta (2022) before getting the head coaching job. She replaced Marianne Stanley and her interim successor, Carlos Knox, who coached in the 2022 season.

Sides had two years left on her contract.

The Fever haven’t had a head coach last for more than three years since Dunn, who coached from 2008-14. Since then, they’ve had White (2015-16), Pokey Chatman (2017-19) and Stanley (2020-22).

Indiana had a brutal schedule to start the season and lost eight of their first nine games. The Fever finally got going after the Olympic break, winning seven of eight to get into playoff contention.