SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White will miss Thursday night's game against Golden State for personal reasons, team officials announced.
Austin Kelly will fill in as acting head coach as the Fever and star Caitlin Clark visit Chase Center and the expansion Valkyries for the first time.
It's the second time this season White has been away for personal reasons. She also missed Indiana's June 7 game at Chicago. Fever officials did not say whether White was dealing with the same issue.
The absence comes two days after White criticized the referees following Indiana's victory over Connecticut. That game was marred by two shoving matches, with the first involving Clark.
“Everybody’s getting better — except the officials,” White said, noting she first started complaining in the first quarter when she sensed a confrontation was brewing. “So we got to find a way to remedy it. I mean, you’ve heard every coach talk about it, so I don’t know what the answer is.”
White was not fined for those comments, though she did draw a fine earlier this year for previous comments criticizing referees.
Three players were ejected from Tuesday's game and while nobody was suspended by the league, the Sun's Marina Mabry had a Flagrant-1 foul upgraded to a Flagrant-2 for shoving Clark, and Fever guard Sophie Cunningham was fined for a hard foul in the game's final minute.
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Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White, right, talks with referee Jenna Reneau in the second half of a WNBA basketball game against the Connecticut Sun in Indianapolis, Tuesday, June 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)
NEW YORK (AP) — Thousands of nurses in three hospital systems in New York City went on strike Monday after negotiations through the weekend failed to yield breakthroughs in their contract disputes.
The strike was taking place at The Mount Sinai Hospital and two of its satellite campuses, with picket lines forming. The other affected hospitals are NewYork-Presbyterian and Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx.
About 15,000 nurses are involved in the strike, according to New York State Nurses Association.
The strike, which comes during a severe flu season, could potentially force the hospitals to transfer patients, cancel procedures or divert ambulances. It could also put a strain on city hospitals not involved in the contract dispute, as patients avoid the medical centers hit by the strike.
The hospitals involved have been hiring temporary nurses to try and fill the labor gap during the walkout, and said in a statement during negotiations that they would “do whatever is necessary to minimize disruptions.” Montefiore posted a message assuring patients that appointments would be kept.
The work stoppage is occurring at multiple hospitals simultaneously, but each medical center is negotiating with the union independently. Several other hospitals across the city and in its suburbs reached deals in recent days to avert a possible strike.
The nurses’ demands vary by hospital, but the major issues include staffing levels and workplace safety. The union says hospitals have given nurses unmanageable workloads.
Nurses also want better security measures in the workplace, citing incidents like a an incident last week, when a man with a sharp object barricaded himself in a Brooklyn hospital room and was then killed by police.
The union also wants limitations on hospitals’ use of artificial intelligence.
The nonprofit hospitals involved in the negotiations say they’ve been working to improve staffing levels, but say the union’s demands overall are too costly.
Nurses voted to authorize the strike last month.
Both New York Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani had expressed concern about the possibility of the strike. As the strike deadline neared, Mamdani urged both sides to keep negotiating and reach a deal that “both honors our nurses and keeps our hospitals open.”
“Our nurses kept this city alive through its hardest moments. Their value is not negotiable,” Mamdani said.
The last major nursing strike in the city was only three years ago, in 2023. That work stoppage, at Mount Sinai and Montefiore, was short, lasting three days. It resulted in a deal raising pay 19% over three years at those hospitals.
It also led to promised staffing improvements, though the union and hospitals now disagree about how much progress has been made, or whether the hospitals are retreating from staffing guarantees.
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Nurses strike outside Mount Sinai West Hospital, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
FILE - A medical worker transports a patient at Mount Sinai Hospital, April 1, 2020, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
