Inside Stephanie White’s incredible background before joining ESPN’s NBA broadcast team originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
Stephanie White knows ball.
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The newest ESPN NBA color commentator may not be familiar to many fans of the league, but she’s got as much basketball knowledge as anyone. That’s why she was chosen to announce during the Raptors–Magic game on Friday night.
She’ll be the color commentator alongside the artful play-by-play man, Mark Jones. They’ve got Katie George on the sideline.
But for those of you wondering who White is, well, we’ve got the details.
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Who is Stephanie White?
Stephanie White is an active head coach in the WNBA.
She leads the Indiana Fever, the team that features superstar Caitlin Clark.
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White is 48 years old and had a college and professional playing career before going into coaching.
Stephanie White’s basketball history
White was always a great hooper. At Seeger High School in Indiana, she was 1995 Indiana Miss Basketball while also winning Gatorade National Player of the Year honors.
After that, White went to Purdue University, and she led them to the 1999 national title. Then as Stephanie White-McCarty, she made the All-Tournament Team.
White was a second-round WNBA Draft pick by the Charlotte Sting and played from 1999-2003 in the league.
Her coaching stops included assistant gigs at Ball State, Kansas State and Toledo before assisting the Chicago Sky and the Fever. She coached the Fever in 2015 and 2016, then went to Vanderbilt from 2016-2021.
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White returned to the WNBA with the Connecticut Sun in 2023-24, and became the Fever’s head coach for the 2025 season.
She was WNBA Coach of the Year in 2023.
White had already done work as an NBA analyst before being hired by the Fever.
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Stephanie White’s relationship includes broadcasting, too
White is currently in a relationship with Lisa Salters, the NFL sideline reporter.
The pair reside in Nashville and have raised four sons together.
