Caitlin Clark Leaves No Room for Hate With Powerful Statement on Alyssa Thomas Foul, Backlash

Caitlin Clark made her first comments on Alyssa Thomas getting a one-game suspension for a flagrant foul on Clark during a Fever-Mercury game last month.

Ever since the video of Thomas’s foul on Clark has gone viral on social media, narratives surrounding the play have spiraled out of control. The game’s referees missed Thomas’s fist to Clark’s throat in the moment, but the league reviewed the play and retroactively assessed the Mercury forward a Flagrant 2 foul and a suspension, deeming that Thomas “recklessly” made contact with Clark and committed a non-basketball act.

On Friday, Clark addressed the incident for the first time since the suspension news.

“First of all, I know what you guys are gonna ask... Our reffing just needs to be better,” Clark said. “It’s tough, obviously the refs are in a very difficult spot, it’s one of the hardest jobs in the world in my opinion to make calls. All you do is get yelled at the whole time by everybody, you’re never winning.

“So I think for us, the league's just got to do better, protecting our players in that regard. I don't really think that it was up for debate. Obviously it wasn't called in real time. Go back and watch the clip. I think it's pretty straightforward. It's kind of been a discussion for three years now.

“... Obviously I’ve been involved in a few of those play but there’s been plenty others across the league that haven’t got called. ... Overall the league has to do better. We have to invest in those areas, the technology can get better. We can treat the referees a little bit better. Pay them like their full time employees.”

Opening statement from Caitlin Clark: pic.twitter.com/DpdPuk1tHy
— hank 🇰🇷 (@Brian_Haenchen) July 3, 2026

Clark then reiterated her statements in years past condemning any form of harassment or hate toward her WNBA peers.

“As I’ve said up here and said before, the harassment, the hate, none of that is O.K.," Clark continued. “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. ... That’s truly what I believe, that’s how I was raised. So none of that is O.K., and I don't want anybody to ever experience that.”

Caitlin Clark denounces hate amid WNBA officiating controversy over Alyssa Thomas’s flagrant foul

Thomas said in the days after the incident that she and the Mercury have been subject to racial harassment and death threats. Like Clark, Thomas also urged for more player safety and protections, calling upon league commissioner Cathy Engelbert in particular to take a stand. Shortly after Thomas’s media availability, Engelbert shared the following statement: “The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate. The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league’s top priority.”

Clark has been involved in her fair share of run-ins with opponents over the years, from testy matchups with rival Angel Reese to getting picked on by a scrum of Sun players last season. Clark went on to address how the recent media narratives have also affected her and her teammates in negative ways.

“It can be really frustrating to me at times and it's difficult,” said Clark. “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. I'm 24 years old, trying to navigate a lot ... There are times that it is hard, and there are times that, you know, it probably affects me a little bit more than I do put on. I would never change any of that for the world, but I think it’s important people remember that part of it too.”

Clark ended her powerful spiel with an important message to those pushing non-basketball-related narratives in the W. She said the fact that this story has persisted weeks later is a “real disservice” to the league and highlighted the importance of “refocusing the narrative” to help the game grow and flourish in the future.

“To continue to beat down [and] beat down, for the narrative to be taken other places, that is just really not acceptable,” Clark said. “There's so much amazing talent, and there's so many amazing players that are playing at an incredibly high rate. ... I honestly feel bad for the players that were playing the games those days [since the flagrant foul incident], and also I feel bad for my teammates. They played on Friday, and they dominated, and they played really well, and nobody wanted to talk about that. They were just worried about everything else. There had been 10-plus other games that had already happened to that point. I think it's all of our jobs to help refocus the narratives.”

Clark is set to miss her second straight game as she deals with a lingering back injury, with the Fever (11-8) facing off against the defending champ Aces on Sunday night. As the superstar guard stated, hopefully the hullabaloo surrounding Thomas’s flagrant foul blows over soon, and she and her teammates can get back to what they enjoy most: Playing good basketball.

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