The letter sent from members of Congress to WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert over the officiating around Fever G Caitlin Clark is the “latest chapter in the Clark saga about whether league officials must do more to protect one of the WNBA’s top players from unnecessarily aggressive physical contact,” according to Michael Marot of the AP. The letter was sent two weeks after Mercury F Alyssa Thomas made contact with her fist to Clark’s throat in a June 24 game. Thomas was not called for a foul on the play during the game, but the league “subsequently upgraded the play to a flagrant foul” and suspended her one game for “recklessly making contact with her fist.” Thomas has called the play a “complete accident,” adding that she has “received death threats since the incident.” Clark and her coach, Stephanie White, an “ardent defender” of Clark, have condemned threats levied at Thomas. Lawmakers also suggested in their letter that government agencies such as the Department of Justice “should investigate if discrimination or retaliation are creating a hostile work environment in the WNBA.” Fever officials said in a statement that neither Clark nor team officials “have been in contact with the Congressional group and that they were unaware of the letter before its release” (AP, 7/9).
PLAYER PROTECTION: “WNBA on Prime Pregame” analyst Candace Parker said the third bullet point in the committee call to action was “violence online and scrutiny,” but added that “should be number one” and the player protection “outside of the lines is the most important.” Parker: “That’s where we need to start is we need to protect our players … this is ridiculous what Alyssa Thomas is going through for something that happened in between the lines. … there needs to be an outcry and an outrage for that as well.” Analyst Lindsey Harding said, “You have a lot of people who are new to the league, a lot of people who’ve never watched. They don’t know the history.” She added it is important the players, coaches, organizations “just unite and come together, have awareness of what we’re saying, what we’re doing, because we have to protect this league” (“WNBA on Prime Pregame,” Prime Video, 7/9).
ISSUES IT CAUSES: In Austin, Cedric Golden wrote he hopes the 11 Republican lawmakers who wrote the letter “watch the W because if they do, then they know it’s an extremely physical league and Clark … has taken her lumps for sure.” But “not to the point where suits need to get involved.” Golden: “What I can’t stand is a bunch of politicians using Clark as some pawn in a larger chess game” (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 7/9). Origin Advocacy founder and WALL STREET JOURNAL contributor Sean McLean wrote on X, “Congressional scrutiny can have consequences beyond Capitol Hill. A single EEOC Commissioner can initiate a Commissioner charge to investigate the WNBA–no vote of the full Commission required. That’s just one reason today’s letter matters. It has elevated this issue beyond sports” (X, 7/8).