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Indiana Fever’s head coach Stephanie White is set to miss yet another game due to personal reasons, according to a report.
White, who was absent from the team’s showdown against the Chicago Sky on June 7, is also set to be away from the sidelines for Thursday night’s clash against the Golden State Valkyries.
The 47-year-old, who is in her first season coaching the Fever, has been forced to miss the clash on the West Coast once again due to personal matters, according to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews.
Assistant coach Austin Kelly will serve as head coach, with assistants Karima Christmas-Kelly and Briann January set to step into bigger roles. No timeline was given for White’s return.
White’s absence from her team earlier this month coincided with her partner and ABC/ESPN sideline reporter Lisa Salters’ notable omission from the network’s coverage of the NBA Finals.
During Game 2 in Oklahoma City, veteran broadcaster Mike Breen revealed that Salters missed the matchup due to her mother’s health.
Indiana Fever’s head coach Stephanie White will miss another game due to personal reasons
White was absent earlier this month due to the health of her partner Lisa Salters’ mother
‘We are thinking of our dear friend and colleague, Lisa Salters,’ the Hall-of-Fame announcer said during the Thunder’s Game 2 win over the visiting Pacers on June 8 in Oklahoma City.
‘Lisa’s mom has been dealing with some serious health issues for a while now, so we want to send our love to Lisa and her mom.
‘Although we’ve never met her mom, we owe her a debt of gratitude for giving us the gift of Lisa Salters, who is the teammate everyone in our business should strive to have.’
Jorge Sedano, who typically works for ESPN radio, had filled in for Salters before she returned to the airwaves for Game 5 on Monday.
However, with the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers set to go head-to-head in a potential Game 6 decided Thursday night, Salters appeared on the pre-game coverage.
It raised further questions over White’s absence, with it seemingly not linked to the ongoing health battles of Salters’ mother. However, earlier in the day, fearful fans were quick to take to social media to send their well-wishes and prayers following the news of White’s withdrawal.
Despite their longtime romance, basketball fans had been shocked to learn of Salters and White’s relationship when their coinciding absences emerged earlier this month.
White and Salters have been romantically involved since at least 2016, according to multiple reports.
ESPN reporter Salters missed the coverage of three games of the NBA Finals
Fever coach White (left) and Salters (right) have been together since about 2016
Caitlin Clark was poked in the eye before being shoved to the ground by her rivals
The longtime partners raise a blended family, sharing four sons – White’s three biological children, Landon, 13, and twins Aiden and Avery, 11, from a previous marriage, and Salters’ adopted son, Samuel, 11.
White’s absence will come as a big loss for the Fever during a turbulent time for the team after superstar Caitlin Clark found herself at the center of multiple skirmishes during Tuesday’s clash against the Connecticut Sun.
Clark was prodded in the eye was jabbed in the eye by Connecticut ‘s Jacy Sheldon, who had previously been caught in a heated exchange with the Fever guard, before being slammed to the floor by Marina Mabrey in a violent moment which sparked outrage online.
Mabrey was shockingly not ejected from the game and was instead assessed just a technical – which has since been upgraded to a flagrant 2.
Meanwhile, Clark’s teammate and friend Sophie Cunningham was assessed with a flagrant foul and immediately ejected from the heated contest late in the game.
With 46.1 seconds remaining in the game, Cunningham wrapped her arms around the Sun guard’s head and pulling her to the ground in an act of revenge after her foul on Clark.
Following the bust-ups, White claimed that ‘everybody [in the league] is getting better, except the officials.’
‘I started talking to the officials in the first quarter, and we knew this was going to happen,’ White said. ‘You could tell it was going to happen. So, they’ve got to get control of it. They’ve got to be better.’
White will not face fines for her comments.
