The Caitlin Clark situation has been steadily progressing as her third year in the league has gotten underway. After missing a majority of the 2025 season with a groin injury, she returned to the lineup with extremely high expectations.

So far, it has been a mixed bag for the Indiana Fever. But just as it looked like she’d regained her form once again, the incident with Alyssa Thomas occurred. As a result, there has been a huge outcry online about the officiating against the former Rookie of the Year.

WNBA Needs to Protect Caitlin Clark

The entire situation reached a fever pitch against the Phoenix Mercury. Keeping an extremely physical approach to defending Clark, it resulted in dangerous closeouts during her jump shots.

But things took an ugly turn during a scramble for the ball. As Clark fell to the floor, Thomas tried to dive for the ball as well. In the process, her fist directly contacted the sweet-shooting guard’s throat.

The outcry was immediate, with the league eventually suspending the Mercury star for her display. However, for a lot of folks, the treatment against Clark needs a referndum from the league itself to try to rectify the situation.

Former ESPN analyst Linda Cohn was among those who weren’t willing to sit quietly any longer. In the heated rant, she took the league to school while still showering Clark with praise for how the three-time All-Star handled the situation.

“Ever notice when Caitlin Clarke is the victim, she never plays the role of the victim. But back to Caitlin Clark, she always takes the high road in these situations. She did it back in the day with Angel Reese, all these controversies. I love what Caitlin Clark said.”

Illustrating her point, she revealed the exact communication from Clark. “I do love that she took the high road here, saying this cannot happen to any player in the league, no matter what the situation is, players, coaches, whatever.”

However, Cohn also put special emphasis on the former first overall pick for calling out the WNBA and the referees directly. “But she also took the time, which I loved, to basically tell the league to be better at communicating. She also mentioned the officiating very subtly.”

Expanding on her point, she added, “I’m going to say it with an exclamation point. The bad officiating in the WNBA has led to most of this minutia. Yeah, most of this controversy, all of these controversies. Be better officials. Is there an agenda here that I don’t know about?”

It remains to be seen whether the uproar over the incident and the subsequent injury will cause the league to recalibrate. But for the time being, the added physicality against her has already cost her huge chunks of her career.

Source:  https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/agenda-espn-legend-rips-wnba-180745736.html