Caitlin Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham has launched a withering attack on the WNBA and its referees after the Indiana Fever star was punched in the throat by an opponent this week.
Clark was struck by Alyssa Thomas in Wednesday night’s game against Phoenix Mercury. She was driving to the hoop when she fell to the ground in the paint while under pressure from a number of Mercury defenders.
Three rival players were battling to strip the ball away from Clark and succeeded in doing so. But, while Clark was down on the floor, Thomas charged in and put her closed fist into the Fever superstar’s neck.
The incident was missed by the referees – and Cunningham revealed the Fever team were also unaware during the game of what had happened – but Thomas was later banned by the WNBA for just one game over the incident.
Clark, meanwhile, later sustained a back injury during the showdown and will miss the Saturday night showdown against Los Angeles Sparks.
Speaking on her podcast, Cunningham explained: ‘I did not see that happen. None of our team saw that happen in real time, but if we did we would have had her back.
Alyssa Thomas appeared to punch Caitlin Clark in the throat during their game on Wednesday
Clark’s teammate Sophie Cunningham has slammed WNBA bosses in response to the incident
‘Unfortunately, this type of s*** happens every single game to her and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it.’
‘You see the videos of literally kneeing and cheap-shotting C in the throat – like, if she did that to any of our teammates we would be p***ed. But they are definitely targeting her and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her.
‘They’re definitely targeting her and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her.’
Cunningham’s podcast co-host, West Wilson, went further and accused the WNBA commissioner, Cathy Engelbert, of being jealous of Clark’s fame.
‘I don’t want to get in beef with Cathy but it is like she is jealous of her, or thinks that because she is a bigger face than the WNBA has had, she won’t give her the platform,’ Wilson said. ‘It is so f***ing weird, it is bizarre.’
Indiana coach Stephanie White said Friday morning that Clark was doing ‘alright’ with the back issue. The Fever have seven days off after the Sparks game, in which time White hopes Clark can recover.
‘She’s OK. She’s going to be out on Saturday. She’s doing all right,’ White said. ‘Obviously, it’s a good time as we have all week next week.
‘Take this opportunity to get her treatment, get her healthy and get her back on the floor and see what happens.
Clark is now going to be absent from the next Indiana Fever game due to a back injury
Clark only played in 13 games last season because of a variety of injuries and she’s missed one game already this season because of her back. Clark is tied for fourth in the league with 21.2 points a game. She had 19 points in 20 minutes against Phoenix.
‘Long-term health and wellness is the most important thing,’ White said. ‘I think we want her to be healthy physically, mentally, emotionally.
‘When you’ve gone through injury and the traumatic aspect of injury that she had last year, it’s ups and downs physically, mentally and emotionally. Making sure that she’s 100% ready to go is the most important thing.’
