The Phoenix Mercury have dived into the deep end of a controversy. And it started in the first game of their series against the Indiana Fever. Caitlin Clark and DeWanna Bonner’s skirmish led to a feisty clash between the two teams. Sophie Cunningham was a premier character, as her continued pointing enraged Bonner and the Mercury faithful.
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The tension carried to Game 2, 48 hours later, as Alyssa Thomas was suspended for one game after her hand on Caitlin Clark’s neck went without a call during the game. The friction between the two teams is at an all-time high, and as a former Mercury, Cunningham has dropped a bomb on the in-house feeling around this team.
“You know what’s funny, though? I know people in their own organization who say nobody likes their team this year,” Cunningham said on her podcast Show Me Something. “They say they are the unfriendliest group. So, we’re not the only ones who feel that way. Internal people feel that way, too.”
The clashes between the Mercury and the Fever did not stop with those two incidents. A couple of alleged reckless closeouts left Clark holding her back, and she shortly left the game on Wednesday because of her injury. And after the game, coach Stephanie White called out her opponents for their physicality against Clark.
“We have a generational talent and WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots [against her] right there that weren’t called,” White mentioned. “Absolutely unacceptable.”
Before their Tempo clash, Mercury’s coach, Nate Tibbetts, called White out for those comments.
“But to say that we had two cheap shots in that game, to me, is ridiculous,” he said. “Steph knows AT. She had the opportunity to coach AT for two years, and she knows what AT stands for and what she’s about.”
He also criticized the WNBA on their process of suspending Alyssa Thomas.
Kahleah Copper and Lexi Held also fiercely defended their teammate. In addition, Mercury dropped a meme on its X account, which further added gasoline to the fire. The now-deleted photo showed a cartoon player lying on the floor with the caption, “DE-WANNA PIECE OF THIS?!?”
It was termed insensitive by multiple fans and analysts, forcing the team to track back. It further showed the Mercury in a bad light.
If Sophie Cunningham’s revelation that some don’t agree with the team’s actions internally is to be believed, it makes matters worse for the squad, which is still reeling at a 7-13 record.
However, the rivalry is not limited to this season alone. DeWanna Bonner, a main character in this story, had a less-than-ideal stint with the Fever last year. She was accused of quitting on the team after Lexie Hull took her starting spot early in the season. Bonner has repeatedly denied those allegations. She was booed at the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on her return in a Mercury jersey.
Sophie Cunningham had criticized Bonner for her unexplained exit, and in 2026, the explanation had still not arrived. Cunningham was asked whether she ever received an explanation for how Bonner handled her Fever exit after their first clash this season, to which she said, “No. And we never will, and I really don’t care anymore.”
As both teams try to move on, this rivalry is now stoked. The Thomas-Clark incident went nationwide as analysts and fans pitched in with their thoughts. There is not much time for this fire to die down as these two teams face each other in July once again. Expect some fireworks in that game as well.
