The statement included profanity, White literally banging on the table in front of her and even ended with what appeared to be a staged walk out of the press conference room without taking any questions.Stephanie White's prepared pregame rant about hate and divisiveness hijacking the WNBA drew immediate praise from ESPN analysts and reporters alike.(Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)That's why the reaction from the WNBA's media cheerleaders was so fascinating.Within minutes, reporters and outlets began describing White's remarks as "passionate," "important," "impassioned" and "scathing." ESPN took the framing even further, with analysts praising White's vulnerability, honesty and commitment to love while suggesting that some of the people criticizing her are "fueled by hatred."WNBA SUDDENLY WANTS TO STICK TO BASKETBALL AFTER YEARS OF MAKING POLITICS PART OF THE PRODUCTAnd we're just getting started.White was heavily criticized for her reaction to DiJonai Carrington's hard foul on Fever guard Sophie Cunningham during Indiana's game against Chicago on Saturday.
It seemed, to many, that White spent more energy defending an opponent who had committed a flagrant foul against her player than her own player who was left with a bloody mouth.White explained Tuesday that she didn't see the play in real time and went directly to her postgame press conference.White said she thought the officials got the call right and said she didn't believe Carrington intentionally went for Cunningham's neck.
The Fever coach said that after she watched the replay, she changed her assessment."Was it egregious? Absolutely," White said."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."It's reasonable to believe that White didn't have access to multiple replays of the play during the game and didn't see them until after she spoke to the media.Explaining that on Tuesday night made perfect sense.Chicago Sky guard DiJonai Car...