Caitlin Clark got punched in the throat, kneed in the groin, and stepped over – and no foul was called.
The WNBA reviewed the tape and suspended the player who did it.
Then ESPN's Chiney Ogwumike went on air and said something that had the whole country demanding an explanation.
What Actually Happened on the Court
On June 24, the Indiana Fever faced the Phoenix Mercury in Indianapolis.
In the second quarter, Clark went to the floor during a scramble for a loose ball.
Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas drove her knee into Clark's groin and pressed a closed fist directly into her throat.
No foul was called.
Thomas then stood up and stepped over Clark's body as she lay on the court.
Clark left the game in the third quarter with a back injury and was ruled out for Indiana's next game.
Fever head coach Stephanie White torched the officiating afterward.
"Absolutely egregious and utterly disrespectful," White said.
"We have a generational talent and WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren't called."
"The fist in the throat is crazy. It's crazy. It's dangerous."
The WNBA reviewed the play after the game and upgraded it to a Flagrant Foul 2 – the league's official ruling that Thomas had "recklessly made contact with her fist to the throat area" of Clark.
Thomas received a one-game suspension.
The Mercury's response?
Their social media account trolled Clark after the game.
ESPN Went on Air and Blamed the Victim
That's where ESPN's Chiney Ogwumike stepped in.
On Sunday's WNBA Countdown, Ogwumike told her panel that the suspension was unjust.
"Alyssa plays on the edge – I know her – and Caitlin, at times, can embellish contact in certain situations," Ogwumike said.
She called the league's decision to suspend Thomas "reactive" and argued it was driven by "optics" rather than by what actually happened on the floor.
"In-game flow, I didn't really notice much because people fall down all the time," Ogwumike said.
"When narratives are created based off a freeze-frame, that can create a huge problem."
There is a word for what Ogwumike did.
Gaslighting.
The league – not conservative media, not Clark's fans – called it a Flagrant 2 and issued a suspension.
Ogwumike went on national television and suggested the woman who got punched in the throat might have deserved it.
This is not a new pattern for Ogwumike.
Last year, she amplified unverified claims that Indiana Fever fans had directed racist harassment at Angel Reese.
The WNBA investigated and found no evidence it ever happened.
Ogwumike apologized.
Now she's back at it – this time running cover for the woman who put her fist into Caitlin Clark's neck.
This Is a Business Decision With $2.2 Billion on the Line
Here is what the WNBA's media partners refuse to say out loud.
Caitlin Clark is responsible for a $2.2 billion media rights deal.
She is averaging a career-best 21.2 points per game this season.
She is the reason millions of Americans – including people who had never watched a minute of women's basketball – are now tuning in.
The league spent an entire offseason creating a referee task force specifically to address the physical targeting of Clark.
And ESPN's analyst told America that Clark might have been faking it.
Former NFL cornerback Patrick Peterson went to Fox News to tell Clark to "bury these fools" on the court.
Former Minnesota Vikings captain Jack Brewer said it plainly: if the races were reversed, this would be called a hate crime.
He's right.
Imagine the coverage if Clark had put her fist into another player's throat and then stepped over her body.
NFL veteran Geoff Schwartz called out every WNBA media voice still refusing to put any blame on Thomas – noting that almost no one in the league's broadcast sphere had defended Clark or even called it a dirty play.
"Just seems like everyone is finding ways to make that play seem normal," Schwartz said.
ESPN built its WNBA coverage on Clark's popularity.
Now its own analysts are suggesting she embellishes contact while she's being punched in the throat.
If the network thinks its audience won't notice – or won't care – it has badly misread the room.
Sources:
- "WNBA Suspends Alyssa Thomas for Punching Caitlin Clark's Throat," Sport Resolutions, June 26, 2026.
- "NFL Great Shares Blunt Advice for Caitlin Clark After Alyssa Thomas Throat Punch," Fox News, June 27, 2026.
- "Chiney Ogwumike's Defense of Alyssa Thomas Reinforced Everything Critics Say About the WNBA Media," OutKick/Fox News, June 29, 2026.
- "ESPN Analyst Says Caitlin Clark 'Embellishes' Contact After Video Shows Throat Punch," Daily Caller, June 29, 2026.
- "Mercury's Alyssa Thomas Suspended After Dropping Fist on Caitlin Clark's Neck," Fox News, June 25, 2026.
- "'Seems Odd' – NFL Veteran Calls Out WNBA Media's Silence on Alyssa Thomas Punching Caitlin Clark," Pro Football Network, June 29, 2026.
- "ESPN's Chiney Ogwumike Apologizes After WNBA Investigation Finds No Evidence of Racist Harassment," Washington Times, May 29, 2025.
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