Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides is the sixth WNBA team to make a change

The Indiana Fever fired coach Christie Sides on Sunday, the organization announced.

Sides had a record of 33:47 in her two seasons with the team, and this season she even reached 20:20. The Fever made the playoffs as the sixth seed and were defeated by the Connecticut Sun in the first round.

Indiana is the sixth team to make a coaching change this offseason and join Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Washington And Los Angeles. All of the fired coaches had three years or less experience.

Whoever takes over the Fever will have a strong young core to work with, led by Caitlin Clark and Aliyah Boston. The pair have won the last two WNBA Rookie of the Year awards.

“We are incredibly grateful to Coach Sides for taking on the challenge of leading us through a holistic transition over the last two seasons while positioning us well for future growth,” said Kelly Krauskopf, Fever president of basketball operations.

“While decisions like these are never easy, it is also imperative that we remain bold and confident in the pursuit of our goals, which include maximizing our talent and bringing another WNBA Championship back to Indiana. Coach Sides has been an incredible representative of the Fever and our community, and we wish her nothing but success in the future.”

Krauskopf returned to the Fever earlier this month after spending time with the Indiana Pacers.

Sides was a longtime assistant around the league, spending time with Chicago (2011-16), the Fever (2017-19) and Atlanta (2022) before getting the head coaching job. She replaced Marianne Stanley and her interim successor Carlos Knox, who served as coaches for the 2022 season.

Sides still had two years left to run.

The Fever haven't had a head coach in more than three years since Lin Dunn, who coached from 2008 to 2014. Since then, they have had Stephanie White (2015-16), Pokey Chatman (2017-19) and Stanley (2020-22).

Indiana had a brutal schedule to start the season, losing eight of its first nine games. After the Olympic break, the Fever finally got going, winning seven of eight games to advance to the playoffs.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball