The Fever make things right after a loud and tumultuous week, but they still need to get things right with banned reporter Scott Agness

Pulling credentials is never a smart or acceptable idea.

I’ve known Scott Agness and his work for a good part of my 27 years in Indianapolis. We worked together at The Athletic and I’ve followed him closely at Fieldhouse Files, his Substack offering that has been covering the Pacers, Fever and everything else related to Pacers Sports & Entertainment, including the Pacers’ G League teams in Fort Wayne and now Noblesville. Nobody, and I mean nobody, writes more completely about the organizations than Scott.

This much I know, too.

He’s not a flamethrower. He’s not a hot-take artist.

You know who’s a flamethrower, or was when he was writing more regularly?

Me.

And I don’t think I’m speaking out of school when I add the Star’s Greg Doyel to that list.

As columnists, it’s our job to stir the pot when it’s necessary, be critical when the situation requires criticism. Our job is to bring eyeballs to our publications, and we do that by sharing our informed opinions.

Scott is not a columnist. He’s a straightforward beat reporter who covers the news of the teams with unrivaled thoroughness and professionalism. Along with the Dustin Dopirak, Tony East and Chloe Peterson, he stands out as the ultimate straight shooter. The truth is, Scott is good for both organizations, serving hardcore readers around Indy and the entire country who read his site.

I mean, if you wanted to pull a credential, which should never happen unless it’s under the most grievous circumstances, you should pull mine. Or Doyel’s. (For the record, it was Gannett, the Star’s parent company, that decided to pull Gregg from Fever coverage for the one year after his unfortunate exchange with Caitlin Clark at her introductory press conference. I personally thought it was an overreaction by the publication – Gregg is wildly talented but can be socially awkward at times, by his own admission – but that’s not my fight today.)

You don’t think Bill Polian wanted to yank my credential oh, about a thousand times? Let’s be real here.

Anyway…

I know the Pacers’ front office people, notably Kevin Pritchard, Chad Buchanan and Rick Carlisle.

I know the Fever’s front office folks, notably Kelly Krauskopf and Stephanie White, although I haven’t yet spoken with Amber Cox.

These are not stupid people. And I never sensed they were petty or unreasonable – at least not until now. I don’t have any specifics – nobody is willing to share -- but I’ve got to think there’s more to the story here that I’m not aware of. But these decisions – first by the Pacers and now by the Fever – makes both organizations look small and overly sensitive and completely unprofessional.

When the Pacers first pulled Agness’ credentials, I told him to raise holy hell; instead, he chose to keep it all on the down-low and use back channels to restore his status. As a result, I said nothing publicly – out of respect for Scott.

This time was different. Scott chose to go public with the Fever denial of his credentials, and now all hell is breaking loose. It looks especially bad for the Fever and the WNBA, which appears to be small-minded and hyper-sensitive. Remember, this is the same league whose players’ association attempted to have Christine Brennan’s credential pulled because she asked some uncomfortable questions during the research for her book. Christine, you should know, is a superstar in our business, a long-time writer for The Washington Post (when they had a sports section) and now USA Today. Her book, “On Her Game: Caitlin Clark and the Revolution in Women’s Sports,” is a New York Times bestseller.