Last week, WNBA star Caitlin Clark was the victim of an intentional foul at the hands of Alyssa Thomas. Thomas clearly throat-punched Clark during a play and was not penalized during the game. The WNBA later reviewed video and gave Thomas an insulting one-game suspension for her behavior.
It's the latest in a line of attacks against Clark, in a league that just doesn't seem to realize it's killing its golden goose.
Now ESPN is blaming Clark for her assault.
"When narratives are created based off of a freeze-frame, that can create a huge problem. The league was reacting to the optics of that image."
— espnW (@espnW) June 28, 2026
—@chiney on the contact between Alyssa Thomas and Caitlin Clark that resulted in Thomas' suspension. pic.twitter.com/jhmv9GzknP
Wow.
"Officiating has been a universal issue this year, and that's not the goal of any league; this is the reality. And when you think about the imperative to call more fouls, we're seeing the highest-scoring season ever in WNBA history. That's largely because they're calling more fouls, right?" said Chiney Ogwumike.
"There's an imperative to call more fouls, but there's still a lack of situational awareness or a lack of control of the game by the refs," she continued. "You can call fouls but is it dictating how one game is played from the other? Because you can see one game where one is super physical and one where people are dropping 50. There's been a lack of consistency, and this creates a problem in magnifier matchups."
"Caitlin sometimes embellishes at times, in certain instances," Ogwumike said. "This created a position where the league is now forced to be reactive. And instead of having a control, not just calling fouls, now the league is reacting and doing something that it rarely does on a non-call and instituting a suspension. And to me, that was unique."
"That largely happened because of the optics," she added. "In game flow, you're watching in game speed, I really didn't notice too much ... but then narratives are created based off of a freeze-frame, that can create a huge problem ... the league was reacting to the optics."
She's the perfect illustration of the blind and hate filled racism endemic in both @wnba and @espn
— BeeLady🐝 (@miamivandynyu) June 29, 2026
Yes. This is all rooted in racism and hatred of Clark.
If it had been Paige B doing it to a black player this commentator would be going crazy.
— Wes Macc (@Wes_Macc) June 29, 2026
The optics wouldn't matter then.
Here is the actual video and Alyssa Thomas punched Caitlin Clark in the throat. Chiney also lied and said Fever fans made monkey noises towards Angel Reese last season and had to apologize for slandering 17,000 people after that bogus investigation concluded. pic.twitter.com/h3R012GuQk
— Andy froemel (@FroemelAndy) June 28, 2026
Why is she still working for ESPN in this case?
No freeze frame, whole video…stop gaslighting people and do your job as you should 🤡 https://t.co/PpbGI2gpPm pic.twitter.com/sD28eqOv2R
— mica. (@loopacim) June 28, 2026
This was intentional and should be tolerated.
The full video is worse than the freeze-frame, by the way. Caitlin Clark should leave the WNBA for another avenue where she won't be abused and harassed and blamed for getting throat-punched for it.