Sports
Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever championship timeline accelerated by sudden coaching change
History will say that a new era for the Indiana Fever began on April 15, 2024.
That, of course, was the night that the franchise, which had yearned for any semblance of recent success, drafted Caitlin Clark No. 1. In an instant, everything changed.
Another date — one six months later — will now mark a nearly as significant moment. Oct. 27, 2024, will be sign-posted as the day in which the Fever officially parted ways with head coach Christie Sides after only two seasons. The Clark era is still here, but the franchise’s direction changed.
Kelly Krauskopf, the recently hired Fever president of basketball operations, seemed to say as much in her statement regarding Sides’ dismissal. Sides was hired by Lin Dunn, who moved into an advisory role after the 2024 season. Sides went 33-47 in two years. Krauskopf referred to Sides’ tenure as an “integral transition period.”
Krauskopf added, “It is also imperative that we remain bold and assertive in the pursuit of our goals, which includes maximizing our talent and bringing another WNBA championship back to Indiana.”
Bold and assertive. Those two words appear to define the Fever’s new path. They are no longer transitioning. They are thinking big.
We have parted ways with head coach Christie Sides.
More: https://t.co/eBb0wRuBlF pic.twitter.com/Ja5S3uGPOb
— Indiana Fever (@IndianaFever) October 27, 2024
Even with Clark and 2023 No. 1 pick Aliyah Boston leading the franchise, the goal for last season was to make the playoffs. Dunn was clear about her desires to snap a seven-year drought. Clearly now, after Clark’s record-setting rookie season, expectations are much higher. The Fever are eyeing their first title since 2012.
A transcendent star accelerates timelines.
In the NBA, LeBron James’ first head coach (Paul Silas) oversaw just the first season-and-a-half of James’ time in Cleveland. Michael Jordan’s first coach (Kevin Loughery) was with MJ for only one year. In the WNBA, Candace Parker’s first professional coach (Michael Cooper) lasted just two seasons with the star forward. Same with Diana Taurasi’s first coach, Carrie Graf. Dunn drafted and coached Sue Bird during Bird’s first season out of UConn. But by Bird’s second year, Anne Donovan paced the Storm sideline.
Add Sides to the list of coaches who were hired for a developmental job, thrown into another and were made a casualty as a result.
The Fever are led by Clark. But with Sunday’s decision, they are Krauskopf’s franchise, too. Krauskopf initially led the team from 2000 until 2018, when she left to become the Pacers assistant general manager and the first woman in NBA history to hold an executive basketball management role. She previously made the postseason 13 times and played in three WNBA finals in seven years, including capturing the 2012 WNBA title. A desire to replicate those successes is why she has returned.
Familiarity seems like it will matter in Indiana’s coaching search. That might mean trying to poach current Connecticut Sun coach Stephanie White for another reunion. According to the Chicago Sun Times, White is still under contract with the Sun but had recent talks with the Fever about the head coaching role.
Krauskopf and White know each other well. White, an Indiana native and Purdue alum, played for the Fever from 2000 to 2004. She was then an assistant coach from 2011 to 2014 and later coached the Fever in 2015 and 2016.
Now widely regarded as one of the league’s top coaches, she has experience and achieved recent success as she installed a new offense in Connecticut. She won Coach of the Year in 2023, led the Fever to the 2015 finals and has drawn greatness out of stars such as Tamika Catchings and Alyssa Thomas. She would likely, in Krauskopf’s words, “maximize” Indiana’s talent, which is also expected to target veterans in free agency to pair with Clark and Boston.
There were obvious needs for improvement under Sides. Defense and diversifying Clark’s shot efficiency are two of the growth areas for the next coach to tackle.
But the Fever’s decision to part with Sides seems less about the player-coach relationship and more about what Krauskopf thinks can happen with a player (Clark) leading the way. Sides and Clark regularly discussed strategy as well as how Clark was handling pressure on and off the court. As last season progressed, Clark became a more effective shooter and driver, and the Fever won nine of 14 games after the All-Star break while Clark went on to lead them to the playoffs and win Rookie of the Year. Krauskopf even applauded Sides for this progress.
When Dunn was hired as GM, she said she wanted to get out of the lottery by her third season. She did that. Now under Krauskopf, no longer are lottery parties acceptable. Championship celebrations are the goal.
Clark and the Fever will be playing under a new coach and general manager (Amber Cox) next spring. The Fever are done experimenting.
A star has again accelerated a championship timeline. And a coach again paid the price.
(Photo of Christie Sides and Caitlin Clark: Elsa / Getty Images)
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An internet rumor swirled last week that a longtime NFL reporter had died at the age of 40.
News of Jane Slater’s supposed death on social media, but she was quick to shut it down.
An X user posted a screenshot of a post on Facebook that showed Slater in black and white with the graphic “1980-2025” saying she had died at 40. Slater, 45, was born in 1980, but the years written in the post would mean she died at either age 44 or 45.
NFL Network sideline reporter Jane Slater stands on the sidelines prior to an NFL football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the Chicago Bears, at Soldier Field on Dec. 26, 2024 in Chicago, Illinois. (Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images)
“A veteran reporter who covered the Dallas Cowboys—having followed the team for over a decade—has passed away at the age of 40 after a tragic domestic violence incident, leaving behind a 5-year-old child. Her years of dedicated work, along with the heartbreaking circumstances surrounding her death, have left loyal fans stunned, devastated, and praying for her and her family,” the post read.
The user asked Slater, “did you pass away??”
Jane Slater speaks with T.Y. Hilton of the Dallas Cowboys after the game against the Philadelphia Eagles at AT&T Stadium on Dec. 24, 2022 in Arlington, Texas. (Cooper Neill/Getty Images)
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“I don’t think so? But does this mean there is (a) glitch in the matrix? I’m gonna wrap myself in bubble wrap until NYE,” Slater joked.
If there is one thing the Facebook post got correct, it’s that Slater does mainly cover the Cowboys for the NFL Network.
NFL Network reporter Jane Slater on the sideline prior to an NFC Wild Card Playoff game between the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium on Jan. 16, 2023 in Tampa, Florida. (Perry Knotts/Getty Images)
Prior to joining in 2016, Slater worked for ESPN and the Longhorn Network, having attended the University of Texas. She also hosted a radio show in Dallas.
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Tennis legend Venus Williams wed Danish model and actor Andrea Preti over the weekend in Florida, the new bride announced in a shared post.
An Instagram post from Vogue Magazine’s Weddings section announced the nuptials, with the message garnering more than 30,000 likes as of Tuesday afternoon.
“We all love each other so much,” Williams, 45, said in the Vogue post. “It was just the happiest, most beautiful, sweetest day.”
The post was scant on details other than the event took place over five days in and around the couple’s home in Palm Beach Gardens.
An email for comment to representatives for Williams and Preti, 37, was not immediately returned.
The couple met at 2024 Milan Fashion Week and began texting shortly after, according to Vogue.
The couple eventually became engaged on Jan. 31 in Tuscany, according to Vogue. That detail was confirmed in July during what was a historic month for Williams.
The Compton native defeated 23-year-old Peyton Sterns 6-3, 6-4 in the first round action of the D.C. Open after a 16-month hiatus from singles matches.
In victory, Williams became the second-oldest woman to win a tour-level singles match, trailing only fellow legend Martina Navratilova, who was 47 when she won in 2004.
“Yes, my fiance is here, and he really encouraged me to keep playing,” Williams told the Tennis Channel’s Rennae Stubbs in a post-match interview. “There were so many times where I just wanted to coast and kind of chill. … He encouraged me to get through this, and it’s wonderful [for him] to be here. He’s never seen me play.”
Preti has written, acted and directed in a handful of films, primarily in Italy.
The wedding was the second for the couple, who also held a ceremony in Italy in September.
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As Philip Rivers has shown he could still tear up the NFL at age 44, American Olympic legend Lindsey Vonn has also proven that age is just a number.
Vonn, 41, qualified for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, Team USA announced on Tuesday. It will be the fifth Winter Olympics that she competes in.
United States’ Lindsey Vonn reacts at the finish area of an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in Val D’Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
Vonn had an impressive run at the World Cup in France over the weekend. She was third in super-G, hitting a high speed of 71 mph. It was her second consecutive podium finish after she was third in downhill. It was the 142nd podium finish in her World Cup career.
“I am honored to be able to represent my country one more time, in my 5th and final Olympics!” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “When I made the decision to return to ski racing, I always had one eye on Cortina because it’s a place that is very, very special to me. Although I can’t guarantee any outcomes, I can guarantee that I will give my absolute best every time l kick out of the starting gate. No matter how these games end up, I feel like I’ve already won.
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United States’ Lindsey Vonn celebrates on the podium after taking third place in an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in Val D’Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
“I am grateful for how the season has gone so far, but I am just getting started. See you in Cortina!”
Vonn has already put together an enviable career in skiing.
She won a gold medal in the 2010 Vancouver Games and two bronze medals in Pyeongchang in 2018. She’s also taken home two gold, three silver and two bronze medals in the World Championships.
The Minnesota native also has 83 World Cup wins and several International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Crystal Globes.
Notably, she’s back competing for gold after being away from the sport for five years.
Austria’s Cornelia Huetter, left, winner of an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, celebrates on the podium with second-placed Germany’s Kira Weidle Winkelmann, left, and third-placed United States’ Lindsey Vonn, in Val D’Isere, France, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Pier Marco Tacca)
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The Winter Olympics will begin on Feb. 6 and run through Feb. 22.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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