{"id":774159,"date":"2026-07-01T22:07:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774159\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T22:07:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T22:07:11","slug":"stephanie-white-denounces-racist-hate-aimed-at-alyssa-thomas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/774159\/","title":{"rendered":"Stephanie White denounces racist hate aimed at Alyssa Thomas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White has denounced the racist hate and abuse directed at Alyssa Thomas<\/a> since the Phoenix Mercury forward committed a flagrant foul against star guard Caitlin Clark. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely unacceptable,\u201d White told the media<\/a> before the team\u2019s practice on Wednesday. \u201cI think as a league as a whole, there\u2019s been so much more toxicity, racism, homophobia \u2014 straight-out hate nonsense. And it is absolutely unacceptable.\u201d <\/p>\n

White attributed most of the hateful comments to online agitators rather than true WNBA or Indiana Fever fans. <\/p>\n

\u201cI believe this is people who are using our league, using our players, to further divisive agendas,\u201d White said, while acknowledging that certain criticisms and fan dynamics are part of the game. \u201cBut it\u2019s not hard to not be a jerk. If you are one of these people that are online doing this, do not call yourself a WNBA fan.\u201d <\/p>\n

A former Indiana Miss Basketball<\/a> honoree, White played in the WNBA from 1999 to 2003, including with the Fever, before transitioning to coaching. She was previously the head coach of the Connecticut Sun \u2014 where she coached Thomas \u2014 before being hired by the Fever. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur league is about inclusiveness,\u201d she continued. \u201cOur league is about competition. Our league is about elevating \u2014 elevating women, elevating marginalized communities, and being inclusive of all different walks of life. That is what our league has always been about from day one. That is what our league will continue to be about.\u201d <\/p>\n

\"Stephanie <\/p>\n

Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White has denounced the racist abuse directed to Alyssa Thomas. <\/p>\n

(Erik Rank \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Thomas was suspended for a game after the WNBA reviewed a viral moment that occurred during the Mercury\u2019s 111-109 win over the Fever last Wednesday. Thomas and Clark were scrambling for a loose ball at around the 6:52 mark during the second quarter and Thomas\u2019 fist pressed into Clark\u2019s throat after she landed on her. No fouls were called at that time, and screenshots and video from the incident quickly made their rounds on social media. Upon review after the game, the WNBA assessed Thomas a Flagrant 2 foul. <\/p>\n

The 13-year veteran<\/a> and six-time All Star told reporters<\/a> Tuesday that she has received death threats and racist abuse in the aftermath. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s unfortunate that it\u2019s come to this over basketball,\u201d Thomas, who had served her suspension Saturday, said. \u201cA lot of us, myself included, didn\u2019t even know the play took place until after the game. Now we\u2019re being painted as thugs. There\u2019s death threats out on us. It\u2019s really unacceptable. It\u2019s something that needs to change in this league and I\u2019m just really sick and tired of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

She called out the WNBA and Commissioner Cathy Engelbert for not doing more to protect players off the court. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re so concerned about the safety on the court, but time and time again, we\u2019re having people threaten our lives,\u201d Thomas said, explaining that her main concern was not the suspension itself. \u201cLeaking addresses out there. Putting crazy pictures that have nothing to do with basketball. At some point, the league needs to [take] a stand … Time and time again, players are going through this and the league remains silent. I\u2019m sick and tired of it. It\u2019s time for them to step up and have our backs.\u201d <\/p>\n

Engelbert released a statement Tuesday night following Thomas\u2019 comments. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate,\u201d the widely reported<\/a> statement read. \u201cThe safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league\u2019s top priority. We are aware of Alyssa Thomas\u2019 comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community. The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is not the first time Thomas has spoken out about racist abuse she and her teammates have received following a match-up against the Fever. During the 2024 playoffs, while a member of the Sun, Thomas said<\/a> that she had never experienced the sort of \u201cracial comments\u201d or \u201cbeen called the things that [she\u2019s] been called on social media\u201d by so-called Fever fans. The Sun eliminated the Fever that year. <\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s fame and popularity have often led to various talking heads<\/a>, commentators and even politicians<\/a> who may not regularly follow the WNBA to share their hot takes whenever a situation involves the former college phenom. The ensuing discourse and social media chatter are often divisive. <\/p>\n

Thomas\u2019 flagrant foul occurred two days after the teams\u2019 chippy June 22 matchup, which saw Thomas and Clark receive technical fouls<\/a> along with three other players for their involvement in a scuffle during the final frame of the Fever\u2019s 86-77 win.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a difference between trolling, and there\u2019s a difference between hatred,\u201d Thomas said Tuesday of the racist slurs she and other players<\/a> have received. \u201cThe hatred that we\u2019re experiencing over a play that, honestly, was a complete accident, no one even knew it happened. It\u2019s just unfortunate. The league has to do better in this instance.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White has denounced the racist hate and abuse directed at Alyssa Thomas since…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774160,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[4652,49,48,7076,3458,6003,40996,1112,274697,2002,10492,274698,11497,82,2341,7479,2321,630,274696],"class_list":["post-774159","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-alyssa-thomas","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-clark","tag-connecticut-sun","tag-fever","tag-flagrant-foul","tag-game","tag-hateful-comment","tag-league","tag-player","tag-racist-hate","tag-social-medium","tag-sports","tag-team","tag-time","tag-white","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-fan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774159","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774159"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774159\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774160"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774159"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774159"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774159"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}