The Phoenix Mercury head coach is unhappy with the WNBA’s treatment of his star player in the wake of a “reckless” foul she committed on Caitlin Clark.
Nate Tibbetts took issue with six-time All-Star Alyssa Thomas getting suspended one game after putting her fist on Clark’s throat Wednesday during a win over the Fever; she missed Saturday’s win over the Tempo.
While a foul wasn’t called by the referees, the WNBA assessed Thomas a Flagrant 2 after reviewing the play, which the league described as “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area” of Clark.
“I’d like to hit on my disappointment in the suspension process by our league and our leaders in the W. This was not a thorough investigation in my opinion,” Tibbetts said, per ESPN.
According to Tibbetts, the league did not contact him or Thomas.
“The people in this league know who AT is,” he said. “She’s a competitor, she’s a winner, and she’s tough. The one thing she is not is cheap.”
Teammate and fellow All-Star Kahleah Copper also expressed displeasure with the league’s handling of the suspension.
“We’re with AT,” Copper said. “We just wish it would have been handled the right way. We wish somebody also called her and checked on her and made sure that she was OK. I don’t think it played out how it should have professionally.”
After Wednesday’s game, Fever coach Stephanie White railed against the officials for not calling a foul on Thomas, calling it “absolutely unacceptable.”
Clark’s teammate, Sophie Cunningham, said on her podcast that opponents are intentionally going after Clark.
“Unfortunately, this type of s–t happens every single game to her and the league, and the refs do absolutely nothing about it,” Cunningham said. “If she did that to any of our teammates, we’d be pissed, but like they’re definitely targeting her and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her.”
