How many coaches did Michael Jordan go through before Phil Jackson came along? Quite a few. Now, this is not to stir up the whole “MJ was the GOAT before Phil or because of Phil” debate—that’s for another day. The real point is this: before winning six rings with Jackson, Jordan and the Bulls couldn’t quite click under Kevin Loughery, Stan Albeck, or even Doug Collins. Which makes you wonder—could Caitlin Clark be walking a similar path right now under Stephanie White?
Jason Whitlock didn’t hold back on his YouTube channel, saying, “Because if they had lost to Connecticut, I’m tell -her [Stephanie White] job’s on the line. They missed the playoffs. Her job’s on the line. It’s not going, ‘Well, Caitlin was injured and now Sophie’s injured.’ No, her job. And so, they did save her job.”
Well, the Fever pulled off a wild 99-93 win over the Sun, even after losing Sophie Cunningham to a knee injury in the second quarter. Kelsey Mitchell absolutely took over, dropping a season-high 38 points—34 of them coming in the second half and overtime. Oh, and did I mention? That comeback from 21 points down was the biggest in franchise history. White went on record to say, “Kelce, you put us on your back,” after crediting the entire success to the team’s togetherness.
While the coach applauds the team’s efforts, Whitlock is raising caution. The tipping point, though? If the Fever go downhill despite Caitlin Clark’s return.
“If it doesn’t work when she [Clark] comes back, that’s when we should really be blaming Stephanie White. Stephanie White has been gifted the two best bucket getters in the league from the guard position. If she doesn’t know how to utilize them, if she doesn’t know how to give them both room to be the creators that they are….”
Aug 17, 2025; Uncasville, Connecticut, USA; Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White watches from the sideline as they take on the Connecticut Sun at Mohegan Sun Arena. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images
Caitlin’s ability to create shots and Mitchell’s ability to down them– something that has helped her put up franchise record 11 30-point performance — Withlock is right about the coach having a dangerous combo. But White has previously faced criticism for switching up positions, and leaving Clark to play off the ball. Fans weren’t on board when Mitchell was assigned to carry the ball in the reigning ROTY’s presence either. So the analyst’s concern lies there.
“The problem is the coach doesn’t know what to do with two people that can bring home the bacon, fry it up in a pan, serve it up to everybody, and eat for themselves,” he says.
White, though, has been clear about her vision for each of her star players even before the season kicked off– Better lateral movements to build on defense and better finishes for Clark, using speed to her advantage and running different offense actions for Mitchell. The coach has had 13 games to put the combo in play, and the game against Valkyries, having Clark as more of a small forward, was a good look into the formula. So now close to the playoffs, the head coach will be making careful picks. But it won’t be just the duo that’s of concern.
ESPN’s Taylor Tannebaum and Maria Marino pretty much echoed the same concern. As Tannebaum put it, “Even if she [Clark] did come back, you have to get her back in the mix, get her back in the chemistry, in the fold. And it’s just too uncertain right now.”
And she’s right—Aliyah Boston, Kelsey Mitchell, and Natasha Howard have only just found some stability after weeks of lineup chaos. Tossing Caitlin Clark back into that mix could either take things up a notch or completely throw off the rhythm with turnovers and new adjustments. That’s why Tannebaum’s words hit hard: “I guarantee you that the Fever are operating as if we have to prepare as if Caitlin Clark is not coming back.”
And honestly, the Fever’s rotations are already stretched thin. With injuries piling up and players dropping in and out of the lineup, Stephanie White’s had to rely on Odyssey Sims and Kyra Lambert just to keep things rolling. After the overtime win against Connecticut, Aliyah Boston summed it up perfectly: “You know, when one person goes down, we say all the time, the next woman stands up. And that’s really just been our motto and been what we’ve had to do a lot this season. And that’s what we’re just going to continue to do.” So yeah, Clark’s return could help—but it could also make things trickier for both the team and White, who still isn’t committing on when, or if, she’s coming back.
Clark’s recovery: Hope, uncertainty, and Stephanie White’s patience
The Indiana Fever are hanging on in the playoff race, sitting sixth at 19-16, but all eyes are still on Caitlin Clark. She’s been out since July 15 with a right groin injury, and when asked if she’d be back by the end of the regular season, coach Stephanie White kept it simple: “That’s the hope. The hope is that she’s back.” White hasn’t rushed anything, reminding everyone before the Connecticut game, “The most important thing continues to be that she is 100% when she’s ready to come back. The timing is never ideal, but her long-term health and wellness is the most important thing.”
Clark’s injury history this year has been a whirlwind. She missed the preseason opener with left quad tightness, then dealt with a left quad strain, followed by a left groin injury, and now the right groin issue that’s kept her out 13 straight games. For someone who never missed a game in four years at Iowa, this is completely uncharted territory. Sophie Cunningham called it, “It’s such, like, a weird injury,” explaining how Clark’s pain just comes and goes. Even Clark admitted on Sue Bird’s podcast, “I’ve never been through anything like this. I think that’s probably why it’s been so hard.”
That honesty shows how much this has shaken her mentally. She explained, “When I first was feeling pain, I didn’t understand it… I didn’t know. I was like, ‘Am I just tight? Am I just getting old? Do I need to hit a stretch?’” It’s that confusion that makes recovery tricky—sometimes it feels fine, sometimes it doesn’t. White is staying patient, keeping the focus on long-term health, while ESPN’s Maria Marino made the bottom line clear: “What I would stress, too, is that if Caitlin is ready to play, she will play… But the big question is, will that clearance be there, you know, by the regular season, and if they make it to the postseason for the playoffs?”
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