Before Phoenix’s 89-80 victory over the Toronto Tempo on Saturday, Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts called out the WNBA’s suspension process of his star player, Alyssa Thomas.
Thomas was serving a one-game suspension after she received a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty for “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark” during Wednesday’s Fever-Mercury game.
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“I’d like to hit on my disappointment with the suspension process by our league and our leaders in the W. This was not a thorough investigation in my opinion. The people involved were not questioned at all. It’s extremely disappointing no one from the league called AT, our security team or myself about what we felt like happened in this situation. There is a protocol to be followed, just coming from the NBA. There’s been many investigations that I’ve heard about that there was calls on both sides and that was not done in this situation and that’s disappointing,” Tibbetts said.
Before the WNBA penalized Thomas with the one-game suspension after a postgame review, Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White blasted Thomas’ actions and the WNBA’s in-game response immediately following Wednesday’s contest, calling it a cheap shot.
“Number one: Youâve got to call it. Itâs absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful. Number two: Youâre coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago, and that (explicit) still happens? Absolutely unacceptable…
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“I mean, the fist in the throat is crazy. It’s crazy. It’s dangerous,” White said.
Tibbetts pushed back against the notion that it was a cheap shot from Thomas.
“The people in this league know who AT is. She’s a competitor, she’s a winner and she’s tough. The one thing she is not is cheap. I respect Steph White. I got to know her with USA Basketball. I respect her as a coach and a person, and I understand her sticking up for Caitlin in this situation. But, to say that we had two cheap shots in that game, to me, is ridiculous. Steph knows AT, she got the opportunity to coach AT for two years, and she knows what AT stands for and what she’s about,” Tibbetts said.
The third and final regular-season matchup between the Fever and Mercury is scheduled for July 9 from Phoenix’s Mortgage Matchup Center.
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This article originally appeared on Hawkeyes Wire: Mercury coach disappointed by WNBA’s Alyssa Thomas suspension process
