VIDEO: Indiana Fever 2026 exit interviews

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indiana Fever held some of their exit interviews to conclude the 2026 WNBA season on Saturday morning.

General manager/COO Amber Cox and head coach Stephanie White kicked things off, then players Aliyah Boston, Lexie Hull, Kelsey Mitchell, and Makayla Timpson followed.

That's the starting lineup, minus Caitlin Clark. Clark was the guest picker for College Gameday on Saturday morning in Iowa City, joining the desk and taking her Hawkeyes to beat the Ohio State Buckeyes. Her exit interview is expected to be scheduled later – ditto for Sophie Cunningham.

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In the meantime, here's video from Saturday morning's interviews, featuring notes when needed.

First up, GM Amber Cox.

Of note: My phone ran out of storage space – hence the late cut here. But I think it's important to share Cox's prepared statement about Fever fans, in full. Here's a link to a video of it, plus in text form below.

"I really wanted to just thank our Fever fan base for all the support that they continue to give us, not only at home but on the road. We have the best fans in the league, an amazing mix of diehards who have been with us from the start and fans who are newer to the league. People from all walks of life. Everyone is welcome here, and they have helped provide an incredible home court advantage here at Gainbridge Fieldhouse as well as on the road. We say every game is a home game, and that's truly the case. People follow us. They pay hard-earned dollars to be at our games, whether we are here or we are on the road. Our fans also delivered 14 of the top 15 broadcasts this year, including some of the largest audiences the WNBA has ever had. The only top-drawing broadcast that didn't include the Fever was the WNBA All-Star Game, and that had three Fever All-Star starters. The attacks on our fan base have no basis in reality, and they need to stop, especially with members of the media — not you guys, not you guys – I'm talking about media who have never been to a game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Every organization in the league, every organization throughout professional sports, all the way down to youth rec leagues, have to deal with occasional bad behavior from spectators. And anyone who crosses the line in an arena or online needs to be held accountable. I want to be really clear about that. There is a line, and people need to be held accountable if they cross it. But here's the fact: We did not have one fan pointed out by a player who violated the WNBA Code of Conduct this season. Not one fan was removed from a game. We take this really seriously, and that is backed up by our security stats and the lived experiences of countless fans who we host at every game. We have fans from 57 countries and all 50 states attend home games. And we drive [a] global audience not only for the Fever, but for the WNBA. And more than 35% of our fans are coming from outside of Indiana every game. Our fans love this team. They're going to cheer. They're going to boo. And sometimes they might point. It's a home court advantage for a reason, and it's the same for the Pacers. And all of that is within the code of conduct. Fever games have always been about inclusivity. Sports are the ultimate unifier, and we want everyone to be a fan of the Fever and a fan of this league."

Next up, head coach Stephanie White.

You guessed it, phone storage problems again. So, a few cuts. But most of it is there.

My question to White at the end: "You had the statement from (President of Basketball and Business Operations) Kelly [Krauskopf] backing you mid season. Do you still feel that support from the front office? Do you expect to be the coach heading into next season?"

Her response: "Yeah, I feel support from the organization. No doubt about that. At the end of the day, it's their decision about whether I return or not. I'd love the opportunity. I love this franchise. I have always felt supported from this franchise. And I hope to continue to be the coach."

Third was Aliyah Boston. We'll get back to her.

After Boston was star guard Kelsey Mitchell.

Mitchell on her free agency priorities, in part: "I have to be selfish. I think that's where I am in my career, about what I probably need and what's probably best for me... What factors in and what is important for me is having a good chemistry on and off the floor," she began. "I've only been with one team my entire career. Trying to figure this out is hard... I've never been in another uniform. I've never had to discuss another organization. There's a lot to hash out."

Lexie Hull took the podium after Mitchell:

Makayla Timpson finished off the day:

So, back to Boston. I did not record her interview with video because I was deleting apps on my phone to clear storage space. Oops. Didn't realize it was that low. Here is her entire Q&A, which lasted three minutes and two seconds.

Questions slightly edited for brevity and clarity

Question: Aliyah, to what extent did your injury impact and change your entire season from what you hoped or expected it would be?

Aliyah Boston: Wow, starting off with a heavy hitter, huh? Okay, I didn't have anything for breakfast yet, but—

Question: Hey, Aaliyah, what'd you have for breakfast?

Aliyah Boston: Um, nothing, air. We're still working through that.

Aliyah Boston: I would say I definitely started the year with a lot of uncertainty. I think there were definitely some games where I was hindered a little bit, and then obviously I missed some games. So it definitely was a change for me because I'm somebody that just loves to compete and loves to play, and I never like to sit out. So it definitely had its impact. But we made it through a full season, so I'm always grateful.

Question: I know the three-point shot is something you worked a lot on. How much pride was there in this season being able to establish that as part of your game?

Aliyah Boston: It was super important. I feel like last year going into the offseason, that was one of the key pieces that I talked to with the coaching staff is just being able to stretch my game, stretch my range out. So I really grinded that and worked on that. So for me to see it go in this season was pretty big. So I'm just going to continue to build on that.

Question: Going back to that leg injury, I know you had some flare ups, even against Minnesota, at the end of the season. Are there any steps you'll be taking this offseason to address that fully?

Aliyah Boston: Yeah, I'll be talking to medical. We'll be talking and seeing what we want to do from there, but nothing's decided yet.

Question: When you look back at the season from a grand picture – good, bad, challenging, everything in between – what kind of things are going to stand out in your mind? And how do you evaluate it all from May to how you guys closed out?

Aliyah Boston: Yeah, first and foremost, I'm grateful. I'm grateful to have been able to play a full season. I'm grateful to have the women in this locker room that we had. I feel like everyone knows, not every season is perfect. You're going to have your ups and downs. But we really stuck together through it all. No matter what. I mean, obviously, when you look back at games that you wish that you didn't drop early and maybe that would have been a difference in [the] standings. There's always things that you can change. But I mean, here we are, right? There's nothing we can do right now. But I'm always grateful. I feel like we worked really hard. We were in the gym a lot. Everyone put in so much extra work. And I feel like what I'm most proud of is you just continue to see different people step up per game. And so I think that just goes to show everyone's growth throughout the season.

Question: Last year you were sitting here after losing to the same team. How do you feel like this year's Aliyah Boston is different mentally from the Aliyah Boston that was sitting here last year?

Aliyah Boston: She's a lot stronger. I'll tell you that. I think that I've been able to adapt to games – like games that we've dropped, or even just being here and being able to look back at film and be like, 'Okay, this is where we went wrong'. I feel like last year I was, I was a lot weaker-minded when it came to that. I'm someone that [has] that perfectionist mindset. So it's always pretty hard when you lose or you feel like you don't perform your best or you struggle in any type of area. But this year I feel like I just continued to look at it as, 'Right now, you're here. You're hooping. You get another opportunity to step on the court and you get to play'. So just take it like that and count it all as joy.

Thank you for reading Fever coverage here on Circle City Spin. I'll get into some offseason breakdowns soon – plus, of course, exit interviews for Caitlin Clark and Sophie Cunningham. Sign up to not miss anything.