Caitlin Clark Takes a WNBA Punch in the Throat Twice in One Day with Flaggarant Foul and Poster Diss

The WNBA just got a taste of what happens when you spend two years trying to destroy the golden goose.

Now the league is watching its biggest star get punched in the throat with no foul called – and the fans are done pretending it's an accident.

Here's what the WNBA did to Caitlin Clark on Wednesday, and why they may not survive what comes next.

Alyssa Thomas Drove Her Fist Into Clark's Throat and the Refs Did Nothing

During the second quarter of Indiana's game against the Phoenix Mercury, Clark drove toward the basket and went to the floor.

Alyssa Thomas landed on top of her, drove her fist directly into Clark's throat, then stepped over Clark's body as play continued.

No foul was called.

An official was standing on the baseline with a clear view of the play.

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Clark finished the half – 19 points, eight assists – then left the game in the third quarter with a back injury and never returned.

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Indiana head coach Stephanie White went nuclear in her postgame press conference.

"We have a generational talent and a WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren't called," White said. "Absolutely unacceptable."

White told reporters she went to the officials at halftime to ask about the Thomas play specifically.

They told her they didn't see it.

"The fist in the throat is crazy," White said. "It's crazy. It's dangerous."

This wasn't a one-game incident.

White has spent most of the 2026 season calling out WNBA officiating for treating Clark differently than every other player in the league.

"We spent all offseason looking at officiating," White said. "I still say the one thing we keep asking for is consistency. Clark is not called the same way as everybody else is called."

The Mercury shot 24 free throws in the second half.

The Fever had 11 fouls called on them in the fourth quarter to the Mercury's two.

Indiana lost 111-109.

The WNBA Celebrated 30 Years and Left Out the Player Who Saved the League

While Clark was being throat-punched with no consequence, the WNBA was rolling out a commemorative 30th anniversary poster for sale at $29.99.

One player from each team – celebrating the league's history.

For the Indiana Fever, they chose Sophie Cunningham.

Cunningham is averaging 9.9 points per game off the bench this season.

Clark – the player whose arrival drove the league's first real TV ratings surge in decades – was nowhere on the poster.

Not in the background. Not in the corner. Gone.

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Clark entered Wednesday second in All-Star fan voting with 670,510 votes, averaging 21.3 points and 8.2 assists per game, ranked third in the league in scoring.

Fan response was immediate and furious.

"This league just continues to embarrass itself," one fan wrote. "Does it even register how absurd it is to exclude Caitlin Clark from this poster?"

Clay Travis called it what it was: "The league got a golden goose and is doing everything they can to kill her."

The WNBA has not explained the selection criteria and has issued no public statement about Clark's exclusion.

This League Has Been Trying to Push Clark Out Since Day One

This is not new.

When Clark arrived in 2024 as the most celebrated women's basketball prospect in history, she immediately faced a campaign inside the league to cut her down.

Veteran players took cheap shots at her that went uncalled while referees whistled Clark for ticky-tack fouls.

The media covered it as a "difficult transition" and "veterans testing a rookie."

Two years later – after Clark has dragged the WNBA into relevance, shattered TV ratings records, filled arenas, and driven the league's first real sponsorship growth in decades – the campaign hasn't stopped.

It's gotten more organized.

Coaches and front offices spent the offseason reviewing officiating specifically because of how Clark is treated.

It changed nothing.

What changed is that the league now has it on record: officials were told about the pattern, the offseason was spent addressing it, and Wednesday happened anyway.

"You're coming in here aware of what happened two nights ago and that still happens?" White said. "Absolutely unacceptable."

The Fever's own COO – who doesn't typically attend postgame press conferences – sat in the room while White delivered that statement.

This is now a franchise-level grievance, not just a coach blowing off steam.

The question the league refuses to answer is a simple one: why does the player who saved your league get punched in the throat on camera while your officials look the other way – and then get erased from your anniversary poster the same day?

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The fans know the answer.

They've known for two years.

And every time the WNBA does something like this, thousands more of them walk away and never come back.

Sources:

• Stephanie White, postgame press conference, ESPN, June 25, 2026.
• "Fever coach blasts refs, Mercury's 'cheap shots' on Caitlin Clark," ESPN, June 25, 2026.
• "Caitlin Clark Fans Outraged By WNBA 30th Anniversary Poster Snubbing," The Spun, June 24, 2026.
• "WNBA Excludes Superstar Caitlin Clark from 30th Anniversary Poster," Breitbart, June 24, 2026.
• "WNBA faces backlash after choosing Sophie Cunningham over Caitlin Clark on anniversary poster," Yahoo Sports, June 24, 2026.
• "Fever coach blasts officials after Caitlin Clark exits game with injury," Yahoo Sports, June 25, 2026.
• "New Video Shows WNBA Star Hitting Caitlin Clark in the Throat During Fever Game," Athlon Sports, June 25, 2026.