{"id":904382,"date":"2026-07-01T01:51:20","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:51:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/904382\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T01:51:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T01:51:20","slug":"indiana-fever-honor-former-wnba-president-val-ackerman","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/904382\/","title":{"rendered":"Indiana Fever honor former WNBA President Val Ackerman"},"content":{"rendered":"

INDIANAPOLIS \u2014 Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White<\/a> is rarely, if ever, on the court during pregame warmups. But on Saturday, she made an exception. <\/p>\n

About two hours and 20 minutes before tipoff of a game between the Fever and Los Angeles Sparks, White stood on the hardwood and chatted with the commissioner of the Big East Conference and former WNBA President Val Ackerman. Ackerman was the league\u2019s first president.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great,\u201d White said of having Ackerman in the building. \u201cHer being a foundational piece of getting [the league] going, it\u2019s always great to see her and have her perspective and have her in the building and reminisce about the old days and talk about how far we\u2019ve come.\u201d<\/p>\n

White was a player during Ackerman\u2019s tenure guiding the WNBA and remembers seeing Ackerman\u2019s signature on the ball when she was a rookie. <\/p>\n

White doesn\u2019t remember exactly how the two met. On this night, they were interacting once again because the Indiana Fever were honoring Ackerman with the Lin Dunn Inspiring Women Award during Inspiring Women Night. Dunn was the first winner of the award last year, and it has since been named in her honor.<\/p>\n

Ackerman was the president of the WNBA during the Fever\u2019s inaugural season back in 2000. She vividly remembers those days and is impressed with how far the franchise has come. There are many through lines from those days to now, but the most obvious are at the top. Ownership is the same \u2014 Herb Simon remains the governor of Pacers Sports & Entertainment. And Kelly Krauskopf was the team\u2019s president and general manager, a role she held until 2017. And she\u2019s back as the president once again.<\/p>\n

\u201cVal\u2019s leadership helped build the WNBA from the ground up, creating opportunities for generations of women across our sport. I had the privilege of beginning my WNBA career alongside her during the league\u2019s earliest days, and I saw firsthand how her leadership shaped not only the league but the people who helped build it,\u201d Krauskopf said in a statement. \u201cHer legacy of breaking barriers and lifting up others perfectly reflects the spirit of the Lin Dunn Inspiring Women Award.\u201d<\/p>\n

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These days, Ackerman is far more involved in the college game as the commissioner of the Big East conference, though she\u2019s retiring at the end of August<\/a>. She\u2019s worked at the international level, too, and has a hand in just about every part of the women\u2019s basketball world.<\/p>\n

So has Dunn, which made it a fitting honor for Ackerman. Dunn wasn\u2019t at Saturday\u2019s game, so the two didn\u2019t get a chance to reconnect, but Ackerman was touched to be given an award named after Dunn. Her relationship with Dunn is one of the many ways Ackerman is connected to the franchise.<\/p>\n

\u201cVery emotional in a lot of ways, because I remember when the Fever came online in 2000 when they came into the WNBA,\u201d Ackerman said of the honor. \u201cI was so honored that this group of women that I have such close relationships with, thought to bring me out and to give me a night out here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Fever\u2019s Inspiring Women Award was named after Dunn to recognize her lasting impact on women\u2019s basketball at both the collegiate and professional levels. That\u2019s equally true of Ackerman, one of the multiple WNBA luminaries in Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

\"IndianaIndiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and former WNBA Commissioner Val Ackerman chat on the court before a game between the Indiana Fever and Los Angeles Sparks on June 27, 2026. (Photo Credit: Tony East)<\/p>\n

Before the game, Ackerman spent time analyzing and reminiscing about the league. She is, like so many, thrilled with the growth of the WNBA and called its current level of visibility a dream. When the league was founded, the vision was that it could one day get to this point. And now, especially with the league\u2019s rise in the last three years<\/a>, that vision is becoming a reality.<\/p>\n

One thing Ackerman loves is that so many of the league\u2019s players and coaches from her time steering the ship are still involved in some capacity. Krauskopf and White, of course, represented that fact on Saturday. But there are so many more. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great. It\u2019s sort of the way it should be,\u201d Ackerman began. \u201cRebecca Lobo<\/a>, [she] was one of the faces of the league early. \u2026 To see Rebecca as a lead analyst on ESPN, probably more knowledgeable about the league than anybody at this point, it\u2019s really exciting. And so I\u2019m glad to see players going on and taking these roles, whether it\u2019s a coach or a television analyst, or working as an executive at a team, I know we\u2019ve got a few of those also. It just maybe speaks to the passion that they have for the league as well, and with that, their interest in staying involved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Another legend still involved? Tamika Catchings<\/a>, an Indiana Fever icon who now works in television for USA Network. She\u2019s been involved in the Indianapolis All-Star committees for WNBA and NBA All-Star events and was, of course, the Fever\u2019s general manager for three seasons.<\/p>\n

During Ackerman\u2019s tenure as president, Catchings was one of the league\u2019s best players. She was a multi-time All-Star, won Defensive Player of the Year twice, and nearly won MVP in that stretch. As the WNBA grew and Indiana had a franchise, Catchings\u2019 stardom was important.<\/p>\n

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So how fitting that during the night in which the Fever honored Ackerman, Catchings grabbed the microphone and interviewed the award recipient at center court for nearly seven minutes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am honored to be alongside my first president,\u201d Catchings began before requesting, and getting, a round of applause for Ackerman.<\/p>\n

The two weaved through a conversation about the WNBA\u2019s inception, some of the bigger moments in the league\u2019s history, the founding of the Fever, and more topics like it was nothing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe journey of women\u2019s sports over the last few decades has just really been incredible,\u201d Ackerman said. \u201cI remember my playing days. I played in the early years of Title IX. We didn\u2019t get many fans to our games. There wasn\u2019t much television. We were so far behind men\u2019s basketball, it wasn\u2019t funny. And now to see how much women\u2019s sports generally have come.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou see WNBA, women\u2019s pro soccer, women\u2019s volleyball is on the rise,\u201d Ackerman said before pausing for a moment as applause and cheers were beginning. \u201cYou see women\u2019s professional ice hockey now showing what they can do with those great players. So we\u2019re living in a different and better day now that women\u2019s sports have found their footing. And so for me, it just seems like the sky is the limit.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Catchings\u2019 final question to Ackerman was one about advice for anybody trying to work in sports. A fitting inquiry to end things.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may take you a while to get your foot in the door, but keep at it. And once you get in there, just work hard, show what you can do, be a good teammate, and I can promise you the doors will open for you,\u201d Ackerman said.<\/p>\n

Her final statement was fitting, given how many leaders in Gainbridge Fieldhouse had done exactly that over the years to play a part in getting the WNBA to where it is today.<\/p>\n

Catchings then requested a round of applause from the crowd and got it. Krauskopf took the court for a photo opportunity with Ackerman and Catchings, and as the three walked off the floor, Krauskopf pulled out her phone to take a selfie. When you\u2019ve been friends and colleagues for that long, a snapshot of every moment is a must. And thanks to that group, the WNBA is having a lot of moments.<\/p>\n

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