The Indiana Fever had quite some time off. Specifically, they had seven full days between their last game against the Sparks and their next against the Aces. That was the perfect window to step away from basketball for a while and let off some steam with team bonding activities. And apparently, the choice activity was entertaining enough to make coach Stephanie White’s children genuinely upset about being left out.

“I was involved in VR yesterday,” White told the media ahead of practice on Wednesday, and Fever reporter Tony East shared it on his YouTube channel. “I shot some zombies. And I am very much a chicken. I did not do the zombies with my children. I did do the zombies with our team. So my children are very upset about that. It was fun, scary, all the things. It was a good time.”

Stephanie White‘s three biological children, Landon, Avery, and Fletcher, and her stepson Samuel are all teenagers, ranging in age from 12 to 14. Shooting zombies in virtual reality sounds like exactly the kind of activity that a group of teenage boys would have absolutely loved. So their frustration is entirely understandable. Their mum may have some making up to do.

But if any team needs a break from basketball, a chance to genuinely relax and reconnect as people rather than teammates, it is this Indiana Fever team. Beyond the physical demands of the games they have been playing, the various controversies that have surrounded this team in recent weeks make a genuine reset all the more warranted.

And as White further added in the interview, there may be room for even more, some light practice, perhaps Pilates or yoga, before the Aces game. With two full days still remaining, there is time to find the right balance.

They will arrive fresh against an Aces side that has had to play the Liberty and will still face the Sky before their July 5 clash.

Coach Stephanie White says team bonding helps players reset amid scheduling gaps

For coach Stephanie White, occasional days off are a meaningful investment in the team’s wellbeing and cohesion.

“I think it’s big. I think at times to just sit back and gain perspective, remember the human element of everything that we do. Remember to have some fun, to find some joy, see people in different environments and different personalities,” she said when asked what days off do for the team.

“But more than anything, I think just have a moment to relax, take a breath, and have some fun together,” added the head coach.

And the specific zombie-shooting game the team got to play during this extended gap did more than just provide a fun afternoon. It revealed sides of some of her players that White had never previously seen. 

“Some people, I wouldn’t have expected to have been as terrified of the zombies as I was. And they were,” she said. “Some people I wouldn’t have expected to be as good with weapons as they were.”

She was not, however, willing to name names, and joked she didn’t want to throw anyone under the bus for their fear of zombies.