Fever's Caitlin Clark Addresses Alyssa Thomas Incident After Mercury Star's Suspension

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark is ready to move on from the weeks of debate stemming from the flagrant foul committed against her by Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas in June.

"It seems like there's always a moment like that in every season that I've played so far," Clark said in a Friday appearance on ESPN's SportsCenter. "And I think, for myself, I just try to navigate it the best I can.

"It gets exhausting. It gets frustrating, because I think especially— that's a perfect example of, yeah, it was a hard foul, and it should've been dealt with in the moment, and it should've decided what it was then and reviewed it. Great. We move on."

Clark continued, "We see it happen in the NBA all the time. It's not anything more than that. It's basketball. When I walk out of the locker room, I shouldn't be— not fearful of what the conversation is gonna be, but it's emotionally exhausting. It's draining. It makes your shoulders tense, because people don't want to talk about the basketball. They just want to stir it up and make it something else.

The initial incident took place when Clark, Thomas and the Mercury's DeWanna Bonner fell to the court while pursuing a loose ball in the second quarter of June 24 game, at which point Thomas' fist appeared to make contact with Clark's throat.

No foul was initially called on the play. The WNBA later announced a flagrant foul 2 and one-game suspension for Thomas after postgame review of the play.

The suspension was for "recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area," which the WNBA described as a "non-basketball act."

Thomas sat out the Mercury's June 27 matchup against the Toronto Tempo while serving out her suspension.

She has since told reporters that since her suspension she's received harassment and threats, which Clark has condemned.

Clark said on SportsCenter she felt some of the media narratives surrounding the incident were "out of touch" with what had really happened.

"I feel like media, and journalism, have a responsibility to tell the stories, and a lot of the time you guys are the ones controlling the narratives about what people read, and what people talk about, and a lot of that is sometimes so far out of touch with what is reality," Clark said.

"And that can be confusing to somebody that's 24, and trying to navigate life, and trying to help her team win a championship."

Members of the WNBA and WNBPA announced earlier this week the two parties had met about "the recent increase in racist, hateful and abusive messages directed at players."

Clark is participating in the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game this weekend in Chicago. Thomas won't be competing after she was left off the All-Star roster for the first time since 2021.