Why Christie Sides and Noelle Quinn had a very tense courtside exchange after a Fever blowout win

The Indiana Fever finally beat the Seattle Storm, and the matchup did not disappoint.

This was probably always going to be the case for the Fever. Seattle beat Indiana three straight times before Sunday, including twice by double digits. So, you have to think, *at some point*, Indiana would finally get its life together and fight back. It happened dramatically with a strange Caitlin Clark technical foul, a career day from Lexie Hull and an absolutely wild fourth quarter that produced a lead that the Storm couldn’t overcome.

Once Seattle’s comeback was out of reach, this seemingly could have been where Fever head coach Christie Sides pulled her starters as Storm head coach Noelle Quinn pulled hers. But Sides did not, and there was a very awkward exchange with Quinn (and even Skylar Diggins-Smith) during the end of the game.

End of game exchange pic.twitter.com/aSnMKjc2mW

— Chris Hagan (@ChrisHaganIndy) August 18, 2024

Christie Sides and Noelle Quinn exchanging some words at the end of this game.

The two hugged in the handshake line and looked like Sides was apologizing pic.twitter.com/k0ZHEDgloA

— Tyler DeLuca (@TylerDeLuca) August 18, 2024

Quinn seemingly gave Sides an earful multiple times before eventually walking away. Postgame, she downplayed the exchange, saying that she and Sides had a “spirited conversation about gamesmanship.”

“We were just having a spirited conversation about gamesmanship.” Coach Noelle Quinn said about her heated exchanged with Indiana Fever Coach Christie Sides at the end of the game. #WNBA

— Storm Chasers (@WNBAStormChaser) August 18, 2024

Storm head coach Noelle Quinn on her conversation with Christie Sides in the final seconds: "We were just having a spirited conversation about gamesmanship. That's it."

The Fever were +16 in the 4Q, won by 17. pic.twitter.com/mCbYaZH5rm

— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) August 18, 2024

Reading the room, this is probably less about Sides playing her starters (which she was fully entitled to) and more about Seattle dropping a heartbreaker to the Atlanta Dream on Friday and then having another tough loss on Sunday.

It’s certainly understandable why Quinn would feel some way about it, considering the game was already a contested battle, and her team faltered down the stretch.

Either way, the exchange amounted to a nothing burger, and both sides moved on.