PHOENIX — Phoenix Mercury star forward Alyssa Thomas has spoken to the media for the first time since last week’s incident in Indiana, where she was suspended for one game for making contact with Fever guard Caitlin Clark’s throat area.
Although no foul call was made live during the game, the clip of the play and Fever coach Stephanie White’s outrage towards it postgame circulated quickly online. This not only sparked debate among fans but also caused the league to step in swiftly to review the incident — retroactively handing Thomas a flagrant foul penalty 2 and a one-game suspension.
“I didn’t even know I was being suspended until 10 minutes before it was put on social media,” Thomas said after practice Tuesday. “We still have yet to hear anything from [WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert]. It’s no surprise; you can see what’s being said on social media. It’s unfortunate, but as usual, she remains silent. And that’s unfortunate when our lives are being threatened.”
Thomas and the Mercury’s main gripe about the situation is how it was handled by the league and how that mishandling subsequently led to hateful and dangerous behavior aimed at Thomas and teammates online. To them, the WNBA didn’t properly communicate with the parties involved about what happened on the play, and exactly how the suspension came from it as a result.
“This was not a thorough investigation, in my opinion,” Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts said as part of a lengthy opening statement on the subject before Phoenix played the Toronto Tempo on Saturday. Thomas missed the game as she served her suspension. “The people involved were not questioned at all. It’s extremely disappointing. No one from the league called [Thomas], our security team, or myself about what we felt like happened in this situation.
“There is a protocol to be followed,” he continued. “Just coming from the NBA, there’s been many investigations that I’ve heard about where there were [phone calls] on both sides, and that was not done in this situation, and that’s disappointing.”
Phoenix ultimately won both the game against Indiana in which the incident occurred, as well as the one against Toronto that Thomas missed, but by then, the damage had already been done. Thomas said she was attacked by fans on social media — everything from being called racial slurs to having her and her family’s lives threatened to having home addresses leaked.
“Our families are being threatened, kids are being threatened, people are sending racial slurs, and all types of stuff,” Thomas said. “There’s a difference between trolling and hatred, and the hatred that we’re experiencing over a play that honestly was a complete accident; no one even knew what happened. It was just unfortunate; the league has to be better.
“I think it’s not even about the suspension,” she later added. “If that’s what they felt was necessary in that moment, then so be it. But I think there’s a lot of other plays that you can say the same about. I think the biggest thing is it’s just about our safety. We’re so concerned about the safety on the court, but time and time again, we’re having people threatening our lives, leaking addresses out there, putting out crazy pictures that have nothing to do with basketball.
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“At some point, the league needs to put a stand on it. … Time and time again, players are going through this, and the league remains silent. So I’m sick and tired of it, and it’s time for them to step up and have our backs in these instances.”
Hours after Thomas’ comments circulated online, the league did respond. ESPN’s Alexa Philippou reported the following statement from Engelbert:
“The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate. The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league’s top priority. We are aware of Alyssa Thomas’ comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community. The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players.”
Additionally, Philippou and USA Today’s Meghan L. Hall reported that Engelbert and Thomas did exchange text messages last week, with Engelbert offering a phone call, despite Thomas saying that they had yet to hear anything.
Still, the backlash surrounding the play quickly grew beyond the realm of basketball. The WNBA has grappled with online harassment directed at its players for years, but the league’s surge in popularity — fueled in part by Clark’s arrival and an influx of new fans — has amplified the volume and intensity of that abuse.
At the same time, the league has faced mounting scrutiny over inconsistent officiating and disciplinary decisions, creating an environment where controversial calls and reviews often become flashpoints that spill onto social media and, in cases like this, escalate into personal attacks against players.
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Thomas said the reaction wasn’t entirely new. She recalled experiencing a similar wave of online abuse after facing Clark and the Fever in the 2024 playoffs while playing for the Connecticut Sun, though she believes this latest incident reached another level.
“A couple years ago, when we played Indiana in the playoffs, the same thing, but not to this extent,” Thomas said.
Thomas was also controversially a part of the play during the 2025 playoffs, in which Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier suffered a serious ankle injury after making contact with Thomas during a game on Sept. 26. No foul was called on the play, which caused a demonstrative outburst from Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve aimed at the officials, not Thomas.
The virality of that incident — along with this most recent one — has contributed to a growing perception among some fans that Thomas is a dirty player, while also fueling the racial slurs, threats and other abuse that Thomas said she has received online.
For Thomas, a player whose excellence stems from her physicality, that’s exactly what makes the response so troubling. She maintains the play on Clark was unintentional and believes the conversation has spiraled far beyond what happened on the court.
“At the end of the day, it’s basketball,” Thomas said. “Basketball is meant to be physical. Like I said, I didn’t even know that play happened. If you watch the clip back, no one in the stands or their bench knew that it happened.”
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