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By Megan Armstrong
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Indiana Fever All-Star guard Caitlin Clark was on the receiving end of Phoenix Mercury All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas' flagrant 2 foul in the Fever's loss to the Mercury on June 24.
A foul was not called during the game, but the WNBA retroactively assessed Thomas a flagrant and a one-game suspension for "recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area" of Clark.
Earlier this week, Thomas disclosed that she and her teammates had received death threats and were victims of racial abuse in the aftermath of her play on Clark. Within hours of Thomas' comments, WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert issued a written statement in which she said, in part, "The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate."
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Fever head coach Stephanie White echoed Engelbert's sentiment and came to Thomas' defense, noting, "There's been so much more toxicity, racism, homophobia, straight-out nonsense — hate nonsense — and it is absolutely unacceptable."
Clark finally weighed in on the play and its aftermath on Friday, July 3. She exited the June 24 loss with a back ailment and had not been made available to the media until now.
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Clark, the 2024 No.1. overall pick, opened her media availability with a prepared statement. She began by agreeing with Thomas receiving a flagrant foul and implored for officials and the league to better protect players, while acknowledged that referees have "one of the hardest jobs in the world." Then, she shifted toward addressing the aftermath.
"As I've stood up here and said before, the harassment, the hate, none of that is OK," Clark said. "That goes for the opposing team we play, that goes for my teammates, that goes for my coaches. There should never be a question of character. I've always stood up here and said that, and that's truly what I believe. That's how I was raised, so none of that is OK. And I don't want anybody to ever experience that."
"I think it can be really frustrating to me at times," Clark said. "I think it's difficult. I think a lot of people sometimes think I'm a robot. I'm not a robot. I have emotions. I have feelings, and it can be really difficult to go through a lot of that."
Clark dove into her outsized platform and, while she "would never change any of it," how difficult it can be to navigate. She admitted it sometimes "affects me more" than she publicly shows.
"I turn the TV on on Sunday, and that game was on Wednesday, and that's all people are still talking about," Clark said of the coverage of her and Thomas' play. "I feel like that's just a real disservice to our league. And I get it. You talk about whether it's flagrant; you talk about whatever it is. But to continue to beat down, beat down, and for the narrative to be taken over places that's just really not acceptable, it's hard to see."
Separately, Clark confirmed that she will remain out with her back injury when the Fever take on the Las Vegas Aces in Vegas on Sunday, July 5, but she's "feeling a lot better" and optimistic that she'll return to the lineup sometime next week.
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