Christie Sides had a very short message after she was fired by the Indiana Fever on Sunday.
On her X account (formerly Twitter), Caitlin Clark’s former head coach posted a seven-word statement that spoke volumes of how she felt after receiving news that her time in Indiana was up. “Leave it better than you found it,” Sides posted on the social media site, with a peace sign emoji.
Interestingly, Sides’ post allowed only people who followed or mentioned to reply to her message to the Fever. And a comment under Sides’ initial post believed that the 47-year-old was wrongly pushed out of Indiana despite leading the Fever to the playoffs for the first time since 2016.
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“And you DID THAT Coach,” the commenter said under Sides’ initial post. “Their loss but you 100 percent will be back sooner than later.” Sides’ firing comes after the head coach helped break the franchise’s seven-year playoff drought though that seemed to have coincided with the Fever drafting Clark.
In two seasons at the helm, Indiana compiled a 33-47 record, with the Fever posting a 20-20 record in the 2024 WNBA season with Clark and former No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston in the starting lineup. After making the playoffs, Indiana was quickly eliminated from the postseason by the Connecticut Sun.
Despite the team’s struggles in recent years, the organization was grateful for the work Sides did with the team and helping Indiana break its unfortunate streak. In a statement, Fever president of basketball operations Kelly Krauskopf thanked Sides for her contributions to the team’s success.
Christie Sides was fired by the Indiana Fever just weeks after leading the franchise back to the playoffs (
Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)
“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,” the statement began. Krauskopf reiterated that Sides’ firing was the organization’s way of finding a better-fitting coach.
“While decisions like these are never easy, it is also imperative that we remain bold and assertive in the pursuit of our goals, which include maximizing our talent and bringing another WNBA championship back to Indiana,” the statement continued. “Coach Sides was an incredible representative of the Fever and our community, and we wish her nothing but success in the future.”
Though Sides’ firing was surprising to some, there were some signs that the 47-year-old’s time in Indiana was coming to an end. In June, Clark shared an eight-word statement that could have doomed the head coach as far back as four months ago.
When asked about what the most valuable advice she’d received was during a game, the star rookie gave a very telling answer. “Nobody gives me advice in game. I wish,” the star wistfully told reporters at the time.
With Sides now out of Indiana, the Fever are the sixth team in the WNBA without a head coach. Sides joins Teresa Weatherspoon, Latricia Trammell, Curt Miller, Tanisha Wright, and Eric Thibault as the coaches being outed after the season’s conclusion.
Interestingly, 50 percent of the WNBA are actively looking for a head coach: The Chicago Sky, Dallas Wings, Los Angeles Sparks, Atlanta Dream and the Washington Mystics, along with the Fever.
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