Phoenix Mercury Mocked Caitlin Clark Then Upped the Outrage After Their Player Punched Her in the Throat

The Phoenix Mercury just deleted a post they never should have made.

After their player drove a fist into Caitlin Clark's throat and sent her off the court injured, the Mercury's official account went on social media and laughed about it.

What they posted – and what happened next – tells you everything about what the WNBA has become.

The Post That Blew Up in Phoenix's Face

After Wednesday night's 111-109 win over the Indiana Fever, the Mercury's official X account posted a cartoon of a player lying on the floor captioned "DE-WANNA PIECE OF THIS?!?" – a taunt built on the name of DeWanna Bonner, who had spent two days getting physical with Clark.

Fans went straight at the Mercury.

"Posting a graphic of a player on the ground after tonight's assault is actually insane," one wrote.

"It is inappropriate for an official team account to post something like this after one of its players assaulted another team player," said another.

"Nice to know a team condones violent assault on a player," wrote a third.

https://twitter.com/RatioedSports/status/2070250866347475179

The Mercury deleted the post.

The internet does not forget.

https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/2070257011397447895“>https://x.com/CollinRugg/status/2070257011397447895

What Happened on That Court

Here is what the Mercury's front office decided was worth celebrating.

Midway through the second quarter, Caitlin Clark went to the ground after a drive to the basket.

She had already passed the ball off.

There was no play happening near her.

Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas drove her knee into Clark's thigh multiple times while Clark lay on the floor.

Thomas then jammed her fist into Clark's throat as Clark tried to get up.

Then she kicked at Clark's legs.

Not one whistle.

Clark left the game with a back injury and did not return.

https://x.com/Rightanglenews/status/2070183784847216725“>https://x.com/Rightanglenews/status/2070183784847216725

Fever head coach Stephanie White went directly at the officials after the buzzer.

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

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

White added what every honest fan watching already knew: "She is not called the same way everybody else is called."

The WNBA reviewed the play overnight and handed Thomas a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty and a one-game suspension.

One game.

For jamming a fist into another player's throat while she lay on the ground.

Indiana Fever President Kelly Krauskopf responded: "Player safety should be paramount in our league."

The League That Keeps Punishing the Wrong Person

This was the second game in three days between these two teams.

Monday night ended with six technical fouls and one ejection – a brawl in everything but name.

Clark picked up her fifth technical of the season for clapping toward Phoenix players during a confrontation with Bonner – the same Bonner the Mercury built their mocking post around two days later.

The WNBA refused to rescind Clark's technical.

So the league's official position is this: Clark gets a technical for clapping. Thomas gets one game for a fist to the throat. And the Mercury's front office mocks the injured player online until the backlash forces them to take it down.

Clark now sits at five technicals – three away from an automatic one-game suspension – earned almost entirely by competing too hard against a team that keeps fouling her and walking away clean.

Thomas had never been suspended in 13 years in the WNBA.

The first time she earned one was for putting her fist into the throat of the player who single-handedly revived the league's relevance.

The WNBA Is Destroying the Goose That Laid the Golden Egg

Caitlin Clark saved this league.

She brought viewership numbers the WNBA had never seen. She filled arenas in cities where teams were playing in front of hundreds of fans. She put the league on ESPN primetime. She made jerseys sell out.

And the league's response – over and over – has been to let her get targeted on the court, punish her for reacting to it, and stand by while a franchise publicly mocks her after she limps to the locker room.

The Mercury deleted the post because the backlash was too loud to ignore.

Not because anyone in that organization thought it was wrong.

The fans who packed those arenas to watch Caitlin Clark play are watching every single one of these moments. They see exactly what's happening. And every time a franchise celebrates putting their superstar on the ground, those fans move one step closer to the exits.

The WNBA had one chance to become something real. Caitlin Clark handed it to them.

They keep throwing it back in her face.

Sources:

• Paul Bois, "Phoenix Mercury Share Tasteless Post After Alyssa Thomas Hits Caitlin Clark," Breitbart, June 25, 2026.
• Dan Zaksheske, "Mercury's Now-Deleted Social Media Post Mocking Caitlin Clark Draws Scrutiny After Star's Injury," OutKick, June 25, 2026.
• "Caitlin Clark Shoved in Neck During Fever Game as Another Apparent Foul on Star Goes Uncalled," OutKick, June 25, 2026.