INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana Fever have fired with general manager Amber Cox, sources confirmed to IndyStar on Friday afternoon. The Athletic was the first to report the news.
It comes the same day team president Kelly Krauskopf stepped down.
Cox was hired following the 2024 season to replace Lin Dunn, who became a special advisor to the team. Cox came from Dallas, where she was the Chief Operating Officer of the Wings.
Even with three All-Stars in Caitlin Clark, Aliyah Boston, and Kelsey Mitchell on the roster, the Fever did not make meaningful progress in WNBA standings with Cox at the helm of roster construction. Indiana finished sixth in the WNBA standings in both the 2025 and 2026 season, making the playoffs but failing to secure home-court advantage.
Cox’s tenure also included some signings that, ultimately, did not work out for Indiana. In 2025, the Fever signed DeWanna Bonner to a $200,000 contract and heralded her as a much-needed veteran presence on the roster. She only played nine games in Indiana before she left the team for personal reasons, and Indiana waived her after it was unable to find a trade partner.
Following the new collective bargaining agreement ahead of the 2026 season, Cox also negotiated bloated multiyear contracts for players who did not live up to the contract size.
Cox does deserve credit for how she handled six season-ending injuries in the Fever’s 2025 season, including to Clark. She found players with untapped potential who were unsigned midseason, such as Odyssey Sims, Aerial Powers, and Shey Peddy, and signed them in place of those injured players. Those replacement players were vital to the Fever’s improbable run to Game Five of the WNBA semifinals in 2025.
She also helped negotiate Boston’s EPIC deal, which put her under contract with the Fever through the 2029 season.
Cox led the Fever to a franchise-record 28 wins in 2026, and was 52-36 with a 5-6 record in the playoffs from 2025-26.
Chloe Peterson is the Indiana Fever beat reporter for IndyStar. Reach her at chloe.peterson@indystar.com.Get IndyStar's Indiana Fever and Caitlin Clark coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. Subscribe to IndyStar TV: Fever for in-depth analysis, behind-the-scenes coverage and more.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Fever fire general manager Amber Cox after botched signings, bloated contracts