“Really Annoying”: Aliyah Boston Calls Out Indiana Crowd Over Treatment of Stephanie White During Fever’s Game vs Liberty

As the Indiana Fever won their second straight game, edging past the New York Liberty on Tuesday, 106-92, head coach Stephanie White faced an unusually hostile crowd at their home arena. After White had previously defended Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington following their game on Saturday, she faced criticism and boos from the home fans during Tuesday’s game. This didn’t sit well with Aliyah Boston, who has come to her coach’s defense.

“I think when you are on your home floor and your team’s getting announced and the coach’s getting announced, I feel like there’s no reason for any of that (booing). I mean, we come out here and we do everything that we can to win,” Boston said to the media during a practice session before the Wings game.

“I think Steph does a great job with us, like we love her and we appreciate her. And so to hear that it was it was really annoying, honestly, and disrespectful, but for us, I mean, we kept the main thing the main thing, and we said we’re going to come out here. We’re going to get it done, though.”

The talking point post the Tuesday game became the flagrant foul and subsequent ejection of Sky’s DiJonai Carrington for her play involving Fever’s Sophie Cunningham. White became the target for Indiana fans for saying that she agreed with the foul call but didn’t think it was intentional on Carrington’s part. The Indiana fans believed that she should have been more vocal in defending Cunningham.

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“Yeah, I mean, look, it was a hard foul. I don’t think that DiJonai intentionally came out to, to get her across the neck like she did, but it did happen, and I thought it was the right call,” White said in the post-game press conference after the Sky game.

So, defending Carrington, a player White previously coached, rather than Cunningham, her current player, landed her in fans’ crosshairs. The reaction from fans on social media reached the point where White had to release a statement defending her earlier stance.

“The reality is, with me, I will always lead with love. I will always lead with grace. I will always lead with humility, and I will always lead with integrity. Doesn’t mean I’ll always get it right. I’m also human. The hate, the fear mongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that’s trying to hijack our league will not win,” Coach White said before the Liberty game.

“It won’t win. We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided.”

After seeing White get booed during the Liberty game, Aliyah Boston said that it “hurt her feelings” to see their own fanbase react that way towards their coach and that it was the Fever’s culture to support her in this moment.

Only time will tell whether the home fans heed Aliyah Boston’s demand as the Indiana Fever welcome the Dallas Wings at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse next on Friday.

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