Coach Stephanie White hits back after leaked transgender memo creates narratives 'that simply don't exist'

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White has issued a fiery response as controversy continues to swirl around the WNBA following a leaked memo about transgender athletes.

The league has faced growing scrutiny in recent weeks after Fever guard Sophie Cunningham spoke about wanting to 'protect young girls' in sport, comments which were followed by a leaked memo from WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to teams.

That memo said transgender participation would be discussed by a task force of team presidents and general managers whilst the league stressed that player eligibility rules are collectively bargained.

The situation has since become caught up in a wider storm surrounding the Fever, with Cunningham also involved in a heated incident with Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Carrington over the weekend.

Now, before Indiana's game against the New York Liberty on Tuesday (Aug. 11), White addressed the growing criticism in an extraordinary press conference.

Sophie Cunningham later backed Stephanie White amid criticism surrounding the Fever coach (Sean M. Haffey/ Staff/Getty Images)

Reported by the Daily Mail, she opened by saying: "This isn't necessarily for those people that are in this room. This is more for an online community that's trying to create narratives that simply don't exist, trying to create a fabrication or distortion of who I am, of what I'm about."

White had come under fire after Carrington was ejected for a flagrant 2 foul on Cunningham, with some supporters accusing the Fever coach of failing to properly back her own player.

White had initially said she did not believe Carrington intentionally went for Cunningham's neck, but later explained she had not seen the play or a replay before speaking.

She said: "Was it egregious? Absolutely. When you have a chance to watch that over and over and over on replay, you can see that. I didn't have that in real time."

"I stand by them. I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell." (Justin Casterline/Getty Images)

The coach then pushed back hard against suggestions she was not supporting her players, saying: "I take personally any suggestions that I don't 100% always have my players' back. I ride with them 10 toes down all the time. All the time. They know that."

White's speech then broadened out to the atmosphere surrounding sport in the WNBA.

She said: "The hate, the fearmongering, the divisiveness, the stuff that's trying to hijack our league will not win…It won't win. We are united. We are connected. We will not be divided."

She added: "Every day these women put their ass on the line. Every day. When they go low, we go high. Love will win. Grace will win. Humility will win. And kindness will win."

White finished with: "I stand by them. I will always stand by them. Everybody else can go to hell."

White insisted she has always had her players’ backs amid mounting criticism (Andy Lyons/Staff/Getty Images)

Her players quickly rallied behind her after Indiana beat New York 106-92, as reported by ESPN.

Cunningham insisted: "Our locker room in there, it's tight, and we have each other's backs. Coach loves us. She didn't see the clip ... and that's OK. Me and Steph are great. Steph is great with all of us, and so it's really the outside noise that's trying to distract us, but we're good."

Caitlin Clark was also unhappy after White was booed by Fever fans before the game.

Clark said: "I hated that our fans booed her before the game. That made me a little sick, to be honest."

Reported by Fox News, she added: "We're going to ride for her, and we're always going to have her back. That's never going to tear our locker room apart."

The leaked memo, meanwhile, said the WNBA would continue discussions on transgender participation in the weeks and months ahead, with Engelbert describing the issue as a ‘complex and nuanced topic’.