When Alyssa Thomas made hard contact with Caitlin Clark, hitting her throat, Fever coach Stephani White called it unacceptable. However, the fallout became so extreme that even White defended Thomas, and the WNBA condemned the online harassment directed at Thomas. While Caitlin Clark also spoke out against the personal threats to Thomas, former ESPN SportsCenter host Cari Champion believes Clark was silent for too long.

“For me, timing is really important, and my disappointment with her statement and even her coach’s statements regarding the hate and the vitriol was timing,” she said in the latest episode of Flagrant and Funny.

“I felt like ‘Too little, too late.’ You let it get to fever pitch. Not you because it’s not her responsibility, but it got to a fever pitch on the internet. And it got so hysterical on the internet. The media is covering. GMA is covering it. And you don’t come out and say sooner, ‘Enough’s enough.'”

While Champion’s co-host Jemele Hill had voiced her issues with White’s initial reaction after the foul, the coach came to Thomas’s defense just days after the backlash to personal threats. However, Clark broke her silence on July 3, almost 9 days after the incident, and everyone, including the WNBA, had released their official statements.

“She did address it. I did like what she had to say. I just wish it was more specific, much more like, ‘Not on my watch.’ Maybe a little more heartfelt,” she added.

Caitlin Clark, who injured her back and couldn’t finish that same game, finally spoke to reporters for the first time since walking back to the locker room and not returning to the court on June 24.

“The harassment, the hate. None of that is OK. That goes for the opposing team we play, for my teammates, & for my coaches. There should never be a question of character. I’ve always stood up and said that, and that’s truly what I believe. That’s how I was raised,” she said last Friday.

There is no denying that Alyssa Thomas’ contact with Caitlin Clark’s throat was dangerous and should have been called in real time, especially in a season where the WNBA has repeatedly emphasized cracking down on unnecessary physicality. However, the league only upgraded it to a Flagrant 2 after reviewing it later.

Unfortunately, by then the backlash had already snowballed. And while it seems the league has finally left the incident behind, it’s clear from the analysts and journalists still debating that the WNBA needs to address the bigger issue.

Although the league launched its ‘No Space for Hate’ campaign to combat hate and promote respect, “from online discourse to in-arena behavior,” it wasn’t effective enough to tackle the situation that Alyssa Thomas faced.