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Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White has backed Phoenix Mercury star Alyssa Thomas amid the backlash she is receiving for her foul on Caitlin Clark. Thomas told reporters this week that she’s gotten death threats since her foul on Clark last week.
During the June 24 game between the Phoenix Mercury and Indiana Fever, Alyssa Thomas’ fist came down onto the throat of Caitlin Clark after the latter stumbled while driving to the basket.
While a foul was not given during the game, the WNBA reviewed the incident and gave Thomas a Flagrant 2 foul, resulting in a one-game suspension and a fine.
Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White says the WNBA’s players are being used by “jerks” to “further their divisive agendas”
Speaking to the media on Tuesday, Thomas said she’s been receiving abuse online, including death threats. Following up on Wednesday, White called the treatment Thomas has received “unacceptable” and that it’s fueled by “toxicity, racism, homophobia.”
“It’s absolutely unacceptable. I think as a league as a whole, there’s been so much more toxicity, racism, homophobia — straight-out hate nonsense. And it is absolutely unacceptable,” White said.
White also suggested that the players in the league — mainly Clark, who’s been one of the sports worlds’ main talking points this week and every week since she was drafted in 2024 — have been co-opted by individuals seeking to “further their divisive” political and social agendas.
“I believe this is people who are using our league, using our players, to further divisive agendas. But it’s not hard to not be a jerk. If you are one of these people that are online doing this, do not call yourself a WNBA fan,” White said.
“Our league is about inclusiveness. Our league is about competition. Our league is about elevating — elevating women, elevating marginalized communities, and being inclusive of all different walks of life. That is what our league has always been about from day one. That is what our league will continue to be about.”
Fever head coach Stephanie White addresses Alyssa Thomas’ comments and “unacceptable” fan behavior: pic.twitter.com/55KB1zIX5z
— Tony East (@TonyREast) July 1, 2026
There’s no denying that Clark — a 24-year-old basketball player who didn’t ask for any of this, by the way — has become a hotly-contest battleground in the ongoing culture war, with virtually every sports media personality on the entire sociopolitical spectrum having a stated and likely ardent opinion about her and her relationship to both the WNBA and women’s sports in general.
Above all, the reason that Clark’s cultural relevancy has arguably eclipsed her sporting legacy is because she’s so talented. She is the NCAA Division I all-time leading scorer and had unprecedented hype coming out of college. She is currently sustaining the highest combined points and assists averages in WNBA history (29.4 — she’s averaging 21.2 points and 8.2 assists per game, a first for a WNBA player).