I
t has now been over a week since Alyssa Thomas’ controversial play against Caitlin Clark during the Phoenix Mercury–Indiana Fever matchup.
In the moment, officials did not call a foul after Thomas made contact directly to Clark’s neck area. However, the WNBA later upgraded the play to a Flagrant 2 foul and issued Thomas a one-game suspension.
Clark left that game with a back injury and missed the team’s next game, as well as multiple practices, before finally speaking to the media on Friday for the first time since the incident and the ensuing reaction from fans and media.
Caitlin Clark Speaks
Clark said she believed the play “was” a flagrant foul, despite Thomas stating earlier this week that it was not intentional.
“I know what you guys are going to ask, and I did think it was a flagrant foul,” Clark said at the outset of her media availability.
“Our refereeing just needs to be better. Obviously, the refs are in a really difficult spot — it’s one of the hardest jobs in the world in my opinion. But I think the league just has to do better. I don’t really think it was up for debate. Obviously it wasn’t called in real time, but if you go back and watch the clip, I think it was pretty straightforward. It’s been a discussion for probably three years now, but I think we need to do a better job of protecting the players in this league.
“I think overall the league just has to do better. We can treat the referees a little bit better — the harassment, the hate, none of that is okay. I don’t want anybody to ever experience that.
“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 very difficult to go through a lot of that.”
Lengthy opening statement from Caitlin Clark: pic.twitter.com/fLlwYmvFLy
— Tony East (@TonyREast) July 3, 2026
Clark Will Miss Sunday’s Game
Despite her comments about last week’s controversial incident drawing attention on Friday morning, Clark confirmed she will not play Sunday against the Las Vegas Aces, marking her second consecutive missed game.
However, she did return to practice on Friday and said she hopes to return to game action sometime next week.
“I’m feeling a lot better, excited to get back into practice today and feeling really, really positive about getting back into one of the games in the back-to-back,” Clark said.
“Obviously, it’s difficult coming back in a back-to-back, so we’ll have to be cautious of that. But I feel a lot better… this week has been very helpful for my overall health.”
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