Caitlin Clark will have a new coach for her second WNBA season.
The Fever announced Sunday that they fired Christie Sides after two seasons and a 33-47 record, with the most recent campaign featuring Clark — the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 WNBA Draft — and an in-season turnaround that ended with the No. 6 seed in the playoffs after a brutal start.
Indiana, though, was swept by Connecticut in the opening round of the postseason.
“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 in a statement. “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.”
In an X post Sunday, Sides wrote, “Leave it better than you found it” and added a victory hand emoji at the end.
Sides received the lone Coach of the Year vote that didn’t go to Cheryl Reeve and Sandy Brondello — who coached WNBA Finals teams in the Lynx and Liberty, respectively — this season, but the Chicago Sun-Times reported last week that Sun coach Stephanie White has been in talks with two other teams outside of Connecticut about potentially becoming their coach, including the Fever.
That suggested Sides’ tenure with Indiana could end before the 2025 campaign begins.
The Sun-Times then reported Sunday after Sides’ firing that White — who coached the Fever for two seasons in 2015 and 2016 before coaching at Vanderbilt and then taking the Sun job — is a candidate that some “expect” to become Indiana’s next coach, even though she’s still reportedly under contract with Connecticut through the end of next season.
Clark — a franchise cornerstone the new staff will inherit alongside Aliyah Boston — averaged 19.2 points, 8.4 assists and 5.7 rebounds per game during her rookie season, winning Rookie of the Year, making the All-WNBA First Team and setting numerous records.
