Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White will miss Thursday’s game against the Golden State Valkyries in San Francisco, California, for personal reasons.
Assistant coach Austin Kelly will serve as the acting head coach for Caitlin Clark and the Fever. Kelly was a practice player for the Fever when the franchise won the 2012 championship and began coaching in the WNBA as a member of White’s Connecticut Sun staff in 2023.
While the team confirmed that White will be away from Thursday’s game, it was not specified why or how long the absence would be.
It will be the second game that the coach has missed this month. White was not on the sideline for the Fever’s 79-52 victory against the Chicago Sky at the United Center on June 7.
White’s partner, Lisa Salters, had stepped away from her role as a broadcaster covering the NBA Finals for ESPN and ABC that same week. It was mentioned during the broadcast for Game 2 of the series that Salters’ mother is dealing with a health issue.
Salters was working Game 6 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.
White returned to the Fever this season after spending the past two years as head coach of the Sun. She has led Clark and the Fever to a 6-5 start this season.
White spent most of her five-year playing career in the WNBA with the Fever, including the team’s inaugural season in 2000. She previously was an assistant coach with the team from 2011 to 2014 before taking over as head coach for the 2015 and 2016 seasons.