Kelly Krauss, the new president of basketball and business operations, has basically held her first sort of introduction press conference for the Indiana Fever. Kelly goes way back with the Fever. She was around when they drafted Kelsey Mitchell, and she was with the Pacers when they got Tyrese Haliburton. She, of course, fired Lyn Dunn, sort of took her out of the GM role, and moved her to special advisor. She brought in Amber Cox, who has a long history in soccer as well with MLS.
It’ll be interesting to see where the player decisions come from, the roster decisions, in terms of what the draft is going to look like, free agency, or trades. Amber Cox is really a business person who has worked in sports and done very well with it. I think she was a GM for the Mercury for like two months when they fired the previous GM in August of 2013, or something like that. She was the GM until October. So, I wonder if the roster decisions are going to come more from Kelly. How much input is she going to get from Lyn Dunn in that as well? Kelly’s obviously got a track record and a good one at that. Amber Cox, same thing—sounds great for the Fever, right? Fantastic stuff! We’re moving in the right direction, folks. I thought so as well.
Then I heard a little bit of what Kelly had to say in her press conference, and I was reminded that we are in the WNBA. Yes, this is an ongoing episode of The Three Stooges.
Kelly gets asked about Christy Sides—yes, the Christy who is still employed as the Indiana Fever head coach somehow, some way. We thought maybe with these changes that would mean Christy Sides is on her way out. However, Kelly Krauss may have something different in mind. Here we go:
Tony: “Yeah, obviously you mentioned evaluating everything, just kind of looking back on this season, kind of from across the street. How would you evaluate Christy Sides and kind of her performance as a first-time head coach so far?”
Kelly: “Yeah, I mean, you know what a roller coaster ride for her. I was smart enough to know that the schedule was stacked against a young team early in the season. And the way that they weathered the storm, got into a groove after the Olympic break—I mean, I think she finished 18 and 12 after those first 10 games. Then, of course, went 7 and 4 in the last 11. Three of those losses were against teams in the finals. For a young team to make that kind of progress, it’s hard not to be impressed.”
I think the outside noise, what she had to endure as a coach and what they had to endure as a staff to keep that team focused and together, I mean, it takes time. You know, it took a long time for teams that I’ve had to gel and get together—I mean, years. It doesn’t happen in four months. It takes a few years. I was really impressed with the progress they made and how Christy is a resilient leader. She’s a culture builder. I know that she’s got that kind of stamina to stick to it, and her plan. She’s a good person and great leader. I was impressed with the way they finished.”
So much to unpack here! Let me start with this: Kelly Krauss, “bleep me gently with a chainsaw.” Shout out to anyone who gets that movie reference in the comments below. This is like a dagger to the heart—you might as well throw me off a building.
This hurts my heart in the same way the Eagles’ refusal to fire Nick Sirianni hurts my heart. Are you kidding me with this stuff? Culture? Really? It takes years for a team to gel? Look, I get that maybe you have a young team, and they’re going to get better over seasons in terms of winning championships or becoming their best, but no, it doesn’t take years to get a team to gel. No coach in sports today gets years for their team to gel. It absolutely does not happen. It’s “win now,” folks. Win. Were you not paying attention all season?
Did you not see Christy Sides’ non-reaction to what Kennedy Carter did, and then her excuse after the game how “oh, she didn’t see it,” despite it happening where the ball was being inbounded? And later on, she’s sprinting onto the court when Kelsey Mitchell got into it with Natasha Cloud—if I remember correctly, someone correct me if I’m wrong—when they were playing the Phoenix Mercury.
Christy Sides cannot draw up an effective play when needed, and she never makes Caitlin Clark an option. She sidelines her in the half-court offense, puts her in a corner, and refuses to allow the team to do what it does best, which is run. It’s all about touches in the paint, regardless of how bad that is for the Indiana Fever. She has no idea when it’s appropriate to call a timeout or challenge a call. She never stands up for her players.
