Stephanie White was absolutely livid. You could see it on her face, hear it in every clipped answer at the postgame podium. After watching her Indiana Fever claw and fight—down three key players, including superstar Caitlin Clark—only to have the game ripped away by a string of jaw-dropping referee decisions, White couldn’t hold back. The Fever were supposed to cruise past the struggling LA Sparks, even with half their roster in street clothes. Instead, they got a masterclass in how to lose a game you should have won, thanks to officiating so lopsided it had fans screaming at their TVs.
Every time Aaliyah Boston so much as breathed on a Sparks player, the whistle blew. Meanwhile, LA hacked and shoved with impunity. The calls were so one-sided, it felt like the refs had already filled out the box score before tip-off. Sophie Cunningham got grabbed by the neck—no foul, just a jump ball. Kelsey Mitchell took elbows to the face, nothing. But the moment a Fever player got physical? Foul, after foul, after foul.
White, usually the picture of composure, finally snapped. “We didn’t get the calls,” she said—five words that told the whole story. No excuses, no sugarcoating. Just the raw truth, spoken for every player and fan who watched a winnable game slip away for reasons that had nothing to do with basketball. It wasn’t just a loss; it was a robbery, plain and simple. And Stephanie White made sure the world knew it.