It’s been days now, but Caitlin Clark’s tussle with Alyssa Thomas is still a heated discussion. Thomas put her fist on Clark’s neck and a knee to her groin, which went unnoticed by the referees, causing a major post-game implosion. This incident was followed by suspending Thomas for one game, but even that action by the league has left many divided. Now, a former Fever player has come out in support of Thomas.
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For Sydney Colson, who knows Caitlin Clark from her days on the Fever side, it was not a flagrant one at all. Colson said on ESPN’s WNBA Countdown:
“Do I think it was a flagrant? Not at all. But I also grew up in an era where the game was very physical. This was the least of what I would consider flagrant.”
That is an important distinction from the 36-year-old veteran. The league in 2026 is much stricter about fouls and punishes excessive physicality. In fact, the WNBA is calling more fouls than ever before. It is averaging 20.6 fouls per game, a sharp increase from the 17.5 last year.
It has also increased the fines on flagrant fouls and technical fouls to further crack down on them. The league has had 40 flagrant fouls called already, and it’s not even halfway done. For context, the entire 2025 season saw 51 flagrant fouls.
So, by these heightened standards, Thomas’ action on Clark is leaning towards being a flagrant two according to the league. But for Colson, the separating factor is the reaction from both players in real time that makes it non-flagrant.
“Looking at the game, nobody reacted in real time,” she said. “Even Caitlin got up and ran down the court. There was no indication that anything more was wrong.”
And it’s not only Colson who pointed this out. Even Sophie Cunningham, who was on the court with Clark, admitted the same.
“During real time last night, I did not see that happen,” Cunningham said on her podcast. “None of our team saw it happen.
“Unfortunately, this type of [expletive] happens every single game to her, and the league and the refs do absolutely nothing about it.”
At first glance, it seems a valid defense of the play, and it suggests that the contact was minimal. However, the reaction does not always dictate the nature of the foul.
A flagrant 2 foul needs “unnecessary and excessive” contact, so the bigger question becomes if it was reckless enough to deem a flagrant 2. And real-time reactions can mislead about the extent of contact. The adrenaline of the game could distract players who try to keep moving, especially in a scrum.
However, Fever fans and coach Stephanie White and players like Cunningham have backed the punishment that Thomas received. White blasted the no-call as “egregious” post-game and called it “absolutely unacceptable.” On the other hand, the Mercury camp has protested the process behind the decision.
“This was not a thorough investigation in my opinion,” coach Nate Tibbetts said.
While the debates will continue to rage on, it won’t change the fact that the league has now set a precedent. After suspending Alyssa Thomas for one game, the WNBA has sent a message that such ‘fouls’ are unacceptable. Now, it’s up to the players to keep up and integrate within the borders set.
