The Phoenix Mercury were forced to face the Toronto Tempo without the services of six-time All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas on Saturday night, much to the chagrin of her coach, Nate Tibbetts, and teammates, including fellow All-Star Kahleah Copper.
Thomas served a one-game suspension imposed by the WNBA in the wake of her altercation with Indiana Fever All-Star guard Caitlin Clark on Wednesday. No foul was called on the play, but the WNBA retroactively issued a flagrant foul on Thomas amid public outcry over the incident.
In his first public comments since Thomas’ suspension was handed down, Tibbetts defended his star and pushed back against Fever coach Stephanie White’s postgame comments that his team took “two cheap shots” at Clark on Wednesday night.
“The people in this league know who AT is. She’s a competitor, she’s a winner, and she’s tough. The one thing she is not is cheap,” Tibbetts told reporters before his team’s 89-80 win over Toronto on Saturday. “To say that we had two cheap shots in that game, to me, is ridiculous. Steph knows AT. She got the opportunity to coach AT for two years, and she knows what AT stands for and what she’s about.”
White blasted officials in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday night’s game, saying the lack of a call on Thomas was “egregious” while also pointing to two specific plays as “cheap shots.”
One of those, of course, was the scrum involving Thomas and Clark. On the play, Clark lost her footing with the ball and fell near the free-throw line. Thomas then fell on top of her while grabbing for the ball, and her fist appeared to push into Clark’s throat before Thomas stepped over her as she got up. The WNBA reviewed the play and determined Thomas acted “recklessly” and “committed a non-basketball act,” and issued her a flagrant 2 foul and mandatory suspension.
Kahleah Copper scored 27 points as the Mercury, without Alyssa Thomas, defeated the Tempo on Saturday. (John E. Sokolowski / Imagn Images)
The Mercury ended up winning 111-109, thanks to 28 points from Copper. Thomas finished with 24 points, eight assists and four rebounds. Clark finished with 19 points and eight assists.
“The fact that it was a no-call … you got to call it,” White said afterward.
White coached Thomas in 2023 and 2024 on the Connecticut Sun, who reached the WNBA semifinals both seasons. Thomas is the leader in WNBA career triple-doubles with 25, including the playoffs.
Thomas leads the league in assists per game at 8.4 a night, holding a narrow lead over Clark (8.2). The Phoenix forward also averages 14.7 points and 6.6 rebounds per game for the 7-13 Mercury. They are now 12th out of 15 teams in the league and seventh of eight in the Western Conference, a year after making the WNBA Finals, where the Las Vegas Aces swept them.
How the WNBA arrived at its decision annoyed Tibbetts and Thomas’ teammates. Copper expressed disappointment in what she perceived as a lack of care shown to Thomas, who faced mass vitriol online and questions about her character, in the wake of the ordeal.
“We’re with AT,” Copper said pregame. “We just wish it would have been handled the right way. We wish somebody also called her and checked on her and made sure that she was OK. I don’t think it played out how it should have professionally.”
Tibbetts said Thomas and others involved weren’t questioned, nor were the proper officials from the team consulted during the investigation — an unacceptable departure from protocol, in his estimation.
“This was not a thorough investigation,” Tibbetts said. “… The people involved were not questioned at all. It’s extremely disappointing. No one from the league called AT, our security team or myself about what we felt like happened in this situation. There is a protocol to be followed.”
Tibbetts said he believed public backlash sparked the WNBA’s swift decision against Thomas. The live broadcast did not show Thomas’ fist go into Clark’s throat on the way to the ground. However, another angle shared on social media did, and it quickly made the rounds.
Tibbetts, 49, said there could have been favoritism shown toward protecting Clark, the NCAA Division I career scoring leader who has been heralded as one of the faces of the league.
“The goal is to clean up our game, but I do think it’s important not to rely on social media screenshots. This is a slippery slope,” Tibbetts said. “React to situations like this with consistency. Let’s not base it on generational talent, fanbase involvement, All-Star-level players or role players. Let’s not base it on veterans or young players, or White players or Black players, or international players. If this is the standard, make this the standard, even if the roles were reversed.”
Guard Lexi Held, another of Thomas’ teammates, expressed sympathy for the scrutiny Thomas has received in recent days.
“Kind of like (Copper) said, we don’t think it was handled the best way,” Held said. “There’s a lot of narratives going around that are false and untrue. It’s not who she is or how she is.”
Ultimately, Copper showed her support in the best way possible — picking up the slack with 27 points and leading Phoenix to a win without Thomas.
The Mercury will next play the Fever on July 9 in their third and final regular-season matchup. The regular-season series between them is tied 1-1.