Sophie Cunningham claimed that WNBA players are targeting Caitlin Clark in the aftermath of Alyssa Thomas’ fist connecting with her Fever teammate’s throat Wednesday.
“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 during an episode of the “Show Me Something Sophie Cunningham & West Wilson” that dropped on Saturday. “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.”
Cunningham said that she didn’t see the play — which happened with just under seven minutes remaining in the second quarter — live.
Clark drove to the basket, tripped and fell onto the court, and as the ball rolled away, Thomas’ fist connected with Clark’s neck — and no foul was called on the play.
Thomas was ultimately assessed a Flagrant 2 and suspended for one game retroactively the next day, but Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts criticized the league for its investigation process.
“This was not a thorough investigation in my opinion,” Tibbetts said, according to the Arizona Republic. “The people involved were not questioned at all. It’s extremely disappointing. No one from the league called AT, our security team, or myself about what we felt like happened in this situation. There is a protocol to be followed.”
Tibbetts said the people in the WNBA know who Thomas is — and that she isn’t “cheap.”
Fever head coach Stephanie White blasted the no-call as “egregious” postgame and called it “absolutely unacceptable.”
“I did not see that happen,” Cunningham said. “None of our team saw it happen, because I promise you if we would have seen that happen, we would’ve had her back. Unfortunately, this type of s–t happens every single game to her and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it.”
The Fever subsequently lost 111-109 to the Mercury to fall to 10-8 on the season, with Clark — who exited the game with an injury in the second half and missed the Fever’s game Saturday — pouring in 19 points across 20 minutes.
Cunningham and Clark have been teammates in Indiana the last two years after Cunningham opened her WNBA career with six seasons in Phoenix.
