Tipsheet

WNBA Star Alyssa Thomas Plays the Victim Card After Caitlin Clark Throat Punch

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  July 01, 2026 12:00 PM

We honestly don't know how Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark stands it. She's part of a league that largely despises her, despite the fact she's the best thing to happen to the WNBA in its 30 years. Last week, Clark was throat-punched by Alyssa Thomas of the Phoenix Mercury. The video made it obvious it was a foul, even though officials didn't call it during the game.

After public outcry, the WNBA suspended Thomas for one game, which was also insulting. Had Thomas or Angel Reese or any Black player been subjected to such a foul, the punishment would have undoubtedly been swift and harsher.

But now Thomas is playing the victim and refusing to apologize to Clark. Instead, Thomas claims she's facing death threats.

"I'm crazy. You know, playing the game, being suspended. Just the whole narrative that's being painted out there," Thomas said. "It's unfortunate that it's come to this over basketball. A lot of us, myself included, didn't even know the play took place until after the game and now we're being painted as thugs and there's death threats out on us."

Here's more:

Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas called out the WNBA for its failure to protect players in the fallout of her one-game suspension for committing a flagrant foul on Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark last week.

Thomas said she has been sent death threats, received threats against her family and was called racial slurs online in the days since the incident. She also said addresses have been leaked.

...

Since her suspension, Thomas said she has not heard from league commissioner Cathy Engelbert despite the wave of social media hatred directed at Mercury players. However, a source with knowledge of the situation said Tuesday that the commissioner had “exchanged texts and offered to get on a call with Alyssa Thomas last week.” The source also said that upon hearing about the threats, Engelbert immediately directed league security to contact Phoenix’s security.

The dispute seems to center less on whether contact happened and more on whether that contact resulted in meaningful follow-through.

If this were a one-time incident, observers might be willing to let it slide. But Clark has been targeted for fouls repeatedly since joining the league; she's been attacked and criticized for being white, and the WNBA even omitted her from promotional materials celebrating the league's 30th anniversary.

That's not accidental. It's deliberate.

That first elbow to the face is brutal.

Yes. Clark is the real victim, but you can't tell Thomas or the WNBA that.

This could all go away if Thomas apologized and moved on and if the WNBA took fouls against Clark seriously. Thomas won't, the WNBA won't, so the social media outrage will continue. And, frankly, maybe that's what they want. The WNBA doesn't get this much attention otherwise.