Rusty Weiss
The hits keep coming for Caitlin Clark—literally—and the WNBA’s response keeps falling short. Now, one prominent sports journalist is getting fed up following the cheap shot, calling out the top of the league’s executive food chain.
In Wednesday night’s game between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury, veteran forward Alyssa Thomas delivered what was clearly a straight-up cheap shot. As the two players tangled for a loose ball, Thomas landed on Clark and drove her fist into the superstar’s throat area before stepping on and over her. No foul was called on the floor.
Clark, clearly shaken, stayed in the game initially but later exited with back spasms.
The league reviewed the play and upgraded it to a Flagrant 2, slapping Thomas with a one-game suspension. For many fans and observers, that punishment feels more like a vacation day than real accountability — especially given the pattern of physical play Clark has endured all season.
🔥Hold up…A closer look at the dirty play by Alyssa Thomas last night w/ a new angle — Wait for the freeze + zoom on each.
— HeroOfTheDay (@Hero_OfThe_Day) June 25, 2026
– Knee to the groin
– Pinches her underarm
– Fist to the throat
– Attempt to stomp on her (she moved)
Why do @WNBA players hate Caitlin Clark so much? 🤯 pic.twitter.com/83JZSChdEu
Now, one of the biggest voices in sports media is calling out the league’s bigger problem — Commissioner Cathy Engelbert.
Bill Simmons, a prominent podcaster and founder of the sports and pop culture website The Ringer, went public on social media with his thoughts.
“I can’t think of the last time a pro sports league needed a competent commissioner more badly than the WNBA does right now,” Simmons wrote on X. “Maybe the NBA in the early-80s pre-Stern.”
I can’t think of the last time a pro sports league needed a competent commissioner more badly than the WNBA does right now. Maybe the NBA in the early-80s pre-Stern.
— Bill Simmons (@BillSimmons) June 25, 2026
The message is pretty basic. The WNBA is growing faster than anyone expected, thanks largely to Clark’s arrival. Yet, it still looks like a league that doesn’t know how to handle its own success. New fans are tuning in, ratings are up, and merch is flying off shelves — but the on-court product is being undermined by inconsistent officiating, targeted physicality against the league’s biggest draw, and what many see as weak leadership from the top.
And when Engelbert and the league had an opportunity to lay down the law and let players know that blatant targeting over jealousy towards their top star will not be tolerated, they failed. Miserably.
One game for a fist to the throat might satisfy the rulebook, but it doesn’t solve the deeper issues. That deeper issue is that the WNBA needs to treat Clark like the generational talent she is. She’s Michael Jordan. She’s Tiger Woods. Start acting like it.
All of this comes as the WNBA released a new 30th-anniversary commemorative poster, which has sparked major backlash after the league left Caitlin completely off it. Oh, and if you want to make the argument that she’s too new to be included in a three-decade-long promotional poster, current stars like Angel Reese and Paige Bueckers made the cut.
The face of the WNBA’s massive popularity surge is nowhere to be found. Could you be any more tone-deaf? Clark is driving record ratings and attendance, and is personally responsible for the league’s recent growth. And you couldn’t squeeze her onto the poster, much less have her face front and center?
Simmons is right. Fans are watching closely. The numbers don’t lie — a huge chunk of new interest in the WNBA is tied directly to Clark. Nobody was watching this league prior to her arrival.
Treating her (and by extension, the league’s future) like this only fuels the critics who say the WNBA still isn’t ready for prime time.
