Caitlin Clark Waves DeWanna Bonner Back to Bench in Tense Fever vs Mercury Exchange

Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark put ex-teammate DeWanna Bonner in her place during Tuesday's game against the Phoenix Mercury.

Aug 31, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (center) gestures after an offensive foul by Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton (foreground right) during the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images | Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

The Indiana Fever faced the Phoenix Mercury on September 2, in what was the final regular season showdown between these two teams. The Mercury ultimately won by a score of 85-79.

In addition to this game having major postseason implications for both teams (more so for the Fever, as the Mercury have already made it and are merely playing for seeding at this point), there's an added level of intrigue given that DeWanna Bonner is now playing for Phoenix.

No Fever fan could forget that Bonner started the 2025 season with Indiana before voluntarily sitting out of games, requesting that she get traded, and ultimately getting waived by the team a short time into the regular season.

Aug 10, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward DeWanna Bonner (14) against the Atlanta Dream at PHX Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

While Bonner wanting out of what ended up being a poor fit for her is one thing, Sophie Cunningham's comments on how she handles her Indiana exit seemed to leave a bad taste in the mouths of her former teammates — which was shown in Tuesday's game.

Caitlin Clark, DeWanna Bonner Have Intense Exchange During Fever vs. Mercury Game

A timeout was called at one point in Tuesday's contest, which caused both sides to begin walking back towards their respective benches. Caitlin Clark (who is injured but on the Fever's bench) was saying something either to Bonner or a referee. Bonner then responded by saying something back to Clark.

From there, Clark waved Bonner back to the Mercury's bench in a sort of shooing away motion. This has been reposted several times on social media, as X user @nosyone4 added the caption, "caitlin told db to get tf on to her bench lmfaooooo".

caitlin told db to get tf on to her bench lmfaooooo pic.twitter.com/zdNmw7eyqJ

— correlation (@nosyone4) September 3, 2025

It would be fascinating to hear what either side had to say about this exchange, which could perhaps come after the game.

Sophie Cunningham's Comments on DeWanna Bonner's Fever Exit

Injured Fever star Sophie Cunningham spoke about Bonner's exit from the Fever during one of her podcast episodes.

After asserting that Bonner didn't send any message to the team group chat after wanting out of the team, Cunningham said, "It’s okay to be professional about it, and like send a text to your teammates. Send a text saying and be like, 'Hey, love you guys.' Or you don't even have to say 'Love you guys.' Just be like, 'Hey, sorry this didn't work out, good luck.' You know what I mean? There’s a way to handle that, I think."

There's still clearly a lot to be worked out between Bonner and her former teammates.