Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark fell as she tried to drive past the Phoenix Mercury’s Lexi Held early in the second quarter on Wednesday. As Clark struggled to keep control of the ball, Mercury stars DeWanna Bonner and Alyssa Thomas joined her on the floor to battle for possession.
Replays showed that Thomas hit Clark on the neck in the scrum, prompting Fever head coach Stephanie White to rip the officials in the postgame interview for a no-call.
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Fever Head Coach Stephanie White Calls Out Officials Following Physical Incident Involving Caitlin Clark
In the postgame presser, White did not hold back in lambasting the referees.
“It was egregious, the fact that it was a no-call. I heard about it at halftime. I brought it to the attention of the officials at halftime.”
“… No. 1, you gotta call ( a foul). It’s absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful,” she continued. “And then No. 2, you’re coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago, and that (expletive) still happens? Absolutely unacceptable, absolutely unacceptable!”
The chippy encounter was a continuation of what happened on Monday between the Fever and the Mercury. Indiana pulled off a come-from-behind 86-77 win that became ugly in the fourth quarter due to a heated altercation between Clark and former teammate Bonner.
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A massive scuffle that included Thomas, Sophie Cunningham, and other players ensued. Indiana’s Myisha Hines-Allen was tossed out of the game after receiving two technical fouls.
White did not just complain about Thomas’ alleged hit on Clark. The Fever head coach also highlighted a play in which the two-time All-Star landed on Valeriane Ayayi’s foot.
White called it a “reckless closeout” that forced a review from the referees. After a second look at the play, the officials called it a common foul, a decision that White blasted as “disrespectful.”
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The 6-foot Fever guard couldn’t finish the game after tweaking her back, which some have speculated happened after she fell following Ayayi’s foul. She exited the floor in the third quarter in her team’s 111-109 loss.
Clark has been on the receiving end of physical play since she took the WNBA by storm in 2024. Since then, the Fever have been urging the league to look into those fouls against their franchise cornerstone.
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The play between Thomas and Clark was the latest in a long list of complaints the Fever have sent to the WNBA. Like in most controversial cases, the league will likely review the play and then make a decision.
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In June 2024, then-Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter hip-checked Clark, a contact that was called a common foul by the referees. The next day, the league upgraded it to a Flagrant-1 foul.
White’s scathing remarks about the referees should draw more attention to the two plays involving Clark, with fans and analysts urging the WNBA league office to review them to determine whether any upgrades or suspensions are warranted.
