Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas took aim at WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on Tuesday after receiving a one-game suspension for a flagrant hit to Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark’s throat.
Thomas said she learned of the suspension moments before it became public and accused Engelbert of abandoning players while remaining silent amid the backlash.
She said, “Honestly, I didn’t even know I was being suspended until 10 minutes before it was put on social media. We still have yet to hear anything from Cathy. It’s no surprise.
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“You can see what’s being said on social media. Yeah, I mean, it’s unfortunate, but as usual she remains silent, and that’s unfortunate when our lives are being threatened.”
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Thomas’s comments came just days after the WNBA suspended her for the flagrant sequence involving Clark, a play the league office determined warranted additional discipline.
Thomas continued, “It’s crazy, you know, playing the game, being suspended, just the whole narrative that’s being painted out there. 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 death threats out on us, so it’s really unacceptable. It is something that needs to change in this league, and I’m just really sick and tired of it.”
The lack of accountability in Thomas’ remarks is difficult to ignore.
Rather than acknowledging the reckless play that earned her suspension, Thomas immediately shifted the focus to herself, portraying her punishment, rather than the hit on Clark, as the real injustice. It’s a curious defense from one of the WNBA’s most physical players, whose reputation has long been built on imposing her will and delivering punishing contact.
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The comments also underscore the debate over how Clark has been officiated and protected.
For months, Clark has absorbed hard fouls, excessive contact and increasingly dangerous plays while the league has struggled to respond consistently to physical play involving the player responsible for driving its biggest television audiences, attendance figures and surge in popularity.
Yet when one of the veterans finally receives meaningful discipline, the conversation suddenly pivots away from Clark’s safety and toward sympathy for the player who committed the foul.
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None of that excuses actual threats. But those allegations don’t change why Thomas was suspended in the first place.
Clark, meanwhile, continues to do what she’s done throughout her career … get up, say little publicly and keep producing despite becoming the league’s biggest target, absorbing the kind of physical treatment few superstars in professional sports would be expected to endure while driving record television ratings, attendance and unprecedented interest in the WNBA.
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Thomas had every opportunity to acknowledge the play warranted discipline.
Instead, she chose to cast herself as the victim.
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