{"id":813918,"date":"2026-08-17T08:39:24","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/813918\/"},"modified":"2026-08-17T08:39:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T08:39:24","slug":"nate-tibbetts-defends-fever-coach-stephanie-white-its-not-fair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/813918\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Tibbetts defends Fever coach Stephanie White: ‘It’s not fair.’"},"content":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s been a lot of talk about the WNBA over the past few weeks, but not nearly enough of it has been about basketball<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Between the fallout of Sophie Cunningham\u2019s comments regarding transgender athletes in sports<\/a>, the protests for and against her stance<\/a>, and the hard foul she took from DiJonai Carrington in a game<\/a>, the WNBA has been used as a political football<\/a> for parties whose interest in celebrating women\u2019s basketball is, by their own admission, minimal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Phoenix Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts is the latest to express his frustration with the current state of the conversation surrounding the WNBA.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really pisses me off,\u201d Tibbetts told reporters on Saturday. \u201cIt\u2019s disappointing. This is a great league. We\u2019ve got great players. There\u2019s great stories, great rookies, great teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just spend so much time talking about the wrong stuff. I don\u2019t know why that happens in our league. It\u2019s disappointing. I don\u2019t know who can help change the narrative. Is it the coaches? Is it the players? Is it the media? There\u2019s outside sources that are trying to create division, and at times it\u2019s not a lot of fun. It\u2019s not a lot of fun for our players. It\u2019s not a lot of fun for our coaches, our organizations, because we are doing great things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nate Tibbetts spoke on the recent dialogue surrounding politics and the WNBA, especially involving his USA Basketball coaching partner, Stephanie White.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt really pisses me off. It\u2019s disappointing. This is a great league. We\u2019ve got great players. There are great stories, great\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/CQwzmmbgDg<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Hayden Cilley (@HaydenCilley) August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Tibbetts took specific issue with the treatment of Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White<\/a>, who was criticized by some for what was a completely reasonable response to the hard foul committed against Cunningham. White said she didn\u2019t believe Carrington intentionally went out to strike Cunningham across the neck<\/a>, but that it was a hard foul and thus called correctly. According to some, this response was reason enough to fire her.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make it about basketball, but some of the things that Steph has to go through \u2014 that\u2019s wrong,\u201d Tibbetts said of the stituation. \u201cThere\u2019s no other coach in any professional sport that has to go through the stuff that she does, and I think of her a lot. It\u2019s not fair. It\u2019s not fair. She\u2019s hired to coach basketball. They got a great team and they\u2019re just dealing with stuff that doesn\u2019t really matter. So that still pisses me off.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nate Tibbetts on Stephanie White, via @HaydenCilley<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of the things that Steph has to go through\u2026 There\u2019s no other coach in any professional sport that has to go through the stuff that she does\u2026 It\u2019s not fair. She\u2019s hired to coach basketball.\u201dpic.twitter.com\/ezbu41irEU<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Underdog WNBA (@UnderdogWNBA) August 15, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n

Tibbetts has gotten to know White through USA Basketball. Tibbetts and White, along with Golden State Valkyries head coach Natalie Nakase, will serve as assistant coaches<\/a> on head coach Kara Lawson\u2019s staff for the FIBA Women\u2019s World Cup in September.<\/p>\n

The Fever are fourth in the WNBA standings with 10 games left to play in the regular season. Superstar Caitlin Clark is playing some of the best basketball of her career. If the conversation surrounding the WNBA can cool off just a little bit, there\u2019s plenty of great basketball on the horizon<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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