NBA commissioner Adam Silver said Thursday that issues facing the WNBA and Indiana Fever star guard Caitlin Clark are about more that officiating, calling her a "political football" in the country.
The physicality in how opposing teams defend Clark and fouls are or aren't called has been an issue since she entered the league in 2024 and instantly became a big draw for ticket sales and television ratings. But it came to a head on June 24 on a loose-ball play when Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas
put a closed fist into Clark's neck as Thomas tried to stand up. Thomas was not called for a foul on the second-quarter play in the game Phoenix won, 111-109.
Thomas, however, was issued a retroactive flagrant foul, a one-game suspension and $1,000 fine after the game. The WNBA found she was guilty of "recklessly making contact with her fist" on Clark's throat.
Thomas, who termed the incident an accident, said she and her family received death threats, harassment and racist abuse, adding to a wider conversation about player safety and online behavior around the league.
"Ultimately, the issues around Caitlin Clark are not largely about officiating," Silver said in New York while speaking on a panel at the Game Plan Summit, presented by CNBC and Boardroom.
"That particular incident is not about whether a foul should have been called at the time of the game or whether that was ultimately a flagrant non-review. I've come to know Caitlin really well. She's an incredible player and also an incredible person. And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. And she's become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think it's incredibly unfair to her."
Silver declined to comment about a report in the Sports Business Journal that he leaned on WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to suspend Thomas, saying it would be unfair to Engelbert and Clark.
"What people are trying to make a larger issue (about) is not (whether) that was a flagrant foul or not," Silver said.
He said there is "no doubt about it" that WNBA officiating needs to improve.
Clark, in her public comments in early July, condemned "the harassment, the hate."
"None of that is OK," Clark said. "That goes for the opposing teams we play, that goes for my teammates, that goes for my coaches."
Fever coach Stephanie White also condemned the tone of the discussion, saying the league has seen an increase in "toxicity, racism, homophobia" and other hateful comments, particularly online.
Engelbert, speaking as a panelist at the event on Thursday in New York, said, "The vitriol and everything that our players receive ... is unacceptable."
She noted league initiatives to address harassment and add security at team-related activities. Engelbert also pointed to efforts in the offseason to improve officiating, including a committee of players, college coaches, general managers and officials. An officiating task force watches game film to examine on-court physicality.
--Field Level Media
