The Indiana Fever will have a new head coach patrolling the sidelines next season after they fired Christie Sides on Sunday.

The news came as a surprise to many after the Fever had their best season since 2016, making progress thanks to the stellar play of rookie Caitlin Clark and reaching the playoffs. GM Lin Dunn had also spoken about the need to keep things stable with the team.

However with Sides now out and the team looking for a new head coach, it appears the Fever are looking to take the next step and challenge for honors in the WNBA next season.

Within hours of the news becoming official, Sides took to X to share a message following her dismissal.

“Leave it better than you found it,” Sides wrote, which is in line with what she did with the Fever considering Indiana were 45-147 in six seasons before she took over as coach.

Fever under Sides

Sides spent two years as an assistant with Indiana in 2018 and 2019, before taking over as head coach in 2022.

Before Sides took over, the Fever won just five games and lost 31, a record that was good enough for last in the WNBA standings and the first pick in the WNBA draft, which saw them take Aliyah Boston.

By the end of 2023 the Fever finished with a 0.325 winning percentage, their best mark since 2019. Sides pushed Indiana even further in 2024, no doubt helped by taking Clark in the draft.

The Fever, featuring other names like Lexie Hull, Katie Lou Samuelson and Kelsey Mitchell, reached the playoffs for the first time since 2016, though they were swept by the Connecticut Sun.