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The WNBA reviewed the Caitlin Clark-Alyssa Thomas incident from Wednesday night.
The league apparently didn’t like what it saw.
Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas received a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty and a one-game suspension after the league reviewed her contact with Clark during the Mercury’s 111-109 win over the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
The WNBA announced Thursday that Thomas was punished for “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area” of Clark.
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The play occurred with 6:52 remaining in the second quarter. Clark drove toward the basket and went to the floor as multiple players fought for the ball. During the scramble, Thomas appeared to drive her fist into Clark’s neck and throat area.
No foul was called on the play during the game.
The WNBA said on Thursday that Thomas’ action was deemed a non-basketball act. The league also noted that its office has the ability, after reviewing any game, to reclassify a flagrant foul or classify any foul not called as a flagrant during a game. The league can also impose a fine or suspension.
Thomas will serve the suspension June 27, when the Mercury visit the Toronto Tempo.
The ruling came after Fever coach Stephanie White blasted the officiating following the loss.
“We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called,” White said after the game.
White called the no-call on Thomas “absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful.”
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White also criticized a separate play where Clark landed awkwardly after being fouled by Valeriane Ayayi on a 3-point attempt. Officials reviewed the play, but did not upgrade it to a flagrant foul. Clark grabbed at her back afterward and later left the game and did not return. She finished with 19 points and eight assists in 20 minutes before exiting.
The Thomas suspension won’t change the result. Phoenix still won the game, 111-109.
But the league’s ruling does matter.
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It means White’s complaints weren’t just postgame frustration after a close loss. At least on the Thomas play, the WNBA admitted referees missed an obvious flagrant foul.
That’s the part that should concern the league.
Clark is the WNBA’s biggest draw, and the conversation around how she’s officiated isn’t going away. The league can insist it is reviewing plays after the fact, and in this case, it did.
But it’s fair to ask why a fist to the throat area had to wait until the next day to become a Flagrant 2.
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