Fever GM Says No Fans Were Removed This Season, Pushes Back on Media Narrative

Indiana Fever general manager Amber Cox says no fans were ejected from any of the team’s home games at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis this season, directly contradicting a narrative that has circulated in national sports media accusing Fever fans of racist and abusive behavior toward WNBA players.

“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,” Cox said during her season-ending news conference. “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.”

Cox said the accusations against the fan base in Marion County “have no basis in reality, and they need to stop, especially with members of the media,” clarifying she meant reporters and commentators who had not attended games in person. She added that any fan crossing the line, in the arena or online, should be held accountable, but said broad characterizations of the fan base were “not fair.”

The comments came after a string of incidents this year that media outlets described in ways the Fever organization says misrepresented what actually happened. In May 2025, the WNBA investigated allegations of racist fan behavior during a Fever-Sky game after reviewing audio, video and interviews with fans, team personnel and arena staff. The league concluded it could “not substantiate” the allegations.

In August, Las Vegas Aces guard Jackie Young complained about a fan during a game, and arena security pulled the fan aside. The Fever later said the fan was not ejected, chose to leave voluntarily, and that security found no code-of-conduct violation. Last week, during a playoff game, A’ja Wilson had a confrontation with a Fever fan; the team again said security spoke with the fan and witnesses, found no violation, and did not remove the fan from the arena.

Despite those findings, national sports commentator Sarah Spain said on her podcast that she had believed, prior to Cox’s remarks, that at least one fan had actually been removed for a code-of-conduct violation. She did not specify which incident she had in mind. After hearing Cox’s figures, Spain credited the GM for providing the information but criticized her tone, saying Cox came across as “defensive” rather than “open” to the possibility that players and visiting fans had legitimate reasons to believe a problem existed.

“The defensiveness as opposed to the openness. Not we want to fix why people have the wrong idea. Instead, people have the wrong idea and we’re mad at them,” Spain said, agreeing with a guest’s criticism of Cox.

Cox’s security data and the WNBA’s own investigation stand as the documented record on the matter. The gap between that record and the public impression Spain described — that an ejection had occurred and had been “clear” — illustrates how allegations against Fever fans have at times outpaced the evidence connected to them.

Outkick columnist Jason Whitlock, writing about the exchange, argued that Spain’s demand for a more accommodating tone from Cox came only after Cox had already presented data refuting the claims against her fans, and that Spain offered no similar openness when her own reporting and on-air comments were challenged. The dispute between Spain and Whitlock has played out publicly on their respective shows and columns for months, including Spain’s criticism of an August column Whitlock wrote about WNBA media credential policy.

For Indianapolis-area Fever fans and residents, the exchange underscores a broader pattern: national media figures continuing to characterize the fan base as hostile even as the team’s own security records and the league’s formal investigation have not substantiated those claims.