WNBA player who punched Caitlin Clark in the throat claims she's victim of harassment, racial slurs

WNBA Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas has claimed that he has been harassed online with racial slurs and threats after she rammed her fist into Caitlin Clark's throat during her game last week against the Indiana Fever. After the incident Thomas was suspended for only one game.

Thomas was also critical of WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert when she spoke to reporters on Tuesday. "It's unfortunate that it's come to this over basketball," Thomas said, per ESPN. "A lot of us — myself included — didn't even know the play took place until after the game. Now we're being painted as thugs. There's death threats out on us. It's really unacceptable. It's something that needs to change in this league, and I'm just really sick and tired of it."

Thomas claimed that the incident was a "complete accident," and then said she has been getting threats as a result, and claimed people were "sending racial slurs and all types of stuff."

Thomas claimed that she did not feel the suspension was the biggest thing for her. "If that's what they felt was necessary in that moment, then so be it. But I think there's a lot of other plays that you can say the same about. The biggest thing is about our safety. We're so concerned about the safety on the court, but time and time again, we're having people threaten our lives. Leaking addresses out there. Putting crazy pictures that have nothing to do with basketball," she added.

Taking aim at Engelbert, Thomas said, "We still have yet to hear anything from Cathy [Engelbert]. It's no surprise. You could see what's being said on social media. Yeah, it's unfortunate, but as usual, she remains silent. That's unfortunate when our lives our being threatened."

Engelbert released on statement on Tuesday concerning the comments from Thomas.

"The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league's top priority," she wrote. "We are aware of Alyssa Thomas' 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."

The play took place when there was just under 7 minutes left in the second quarter of the game, and Thomas was seen driving her knee into Clark's groin area and then her closed fist rammed the player in the throat. At the time, there was no foul called, but screenshots and video went viral across social media.

After the incident took place, Sophie Cunningham, Clark's teammate on the Fever, said that WBNA players frequently target Clark during games.

"During real time last night, I did not see that happen," Cunningham said on a recent episode of her podcast with West Wilson. "None of our team saw it happen, because I promise you, if we would have seen that happen, we would have had (Clark's) back. Unfortunately, this type of sh*t happens every single game to (Clark), and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it."