New York (AFP) – The WNBA has suspended six-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas for one game after the Phoenix Mercury forward jammed her fist into Indiana guard Caitlin Clark’s throat. Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White was incensed that no foul was called on the play in which Clark was driving to the basket and fell, and Thomas, diving for the ball, appeared to knee Clark in the groin before pressing her closed fist into Clark’s throat.
“We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called,” White said after the Mercury’s 111-109 victory. The league office reviewed the incident and on Thursday handed Thomas a level two flagrant foul and the one-game suspension “for recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark.”
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Clark scored 19 points before she departed the game in the third quarter with back pain. She missed a game last month with back trouble. Her early departure saw her league record streak of six straight games with at least 20 points and five assists come to an end.
White didn’t blame the foul for Clark’s injury. But the coach said that Clark, the 2024 WNBA Rookie of the Year whose arrival as a collegiate star drew a host of new fans to the league, is not officiated the same as other players.
“I still say the one thing that we keep asking for is consistency,” White said. “(Clark) is not called the same way that everybody else is called.”
© 2024 AFP
