​Before Phoenix’s 89-80 win over the Toronto Tempo on Saturday, Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts criticized the WNBA’s suspension process for Alyssa Thomas. Thomas was serving a one-game ban after receiving a Flagrant F2 for allegedly punching toward the throat area of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark during Wednesday’s Fever-Mercury game.
“I’d like to express my disappointment with the suspension process by our league and our leaders in the W. This was not a thorough investigation in my opinion. The people involved were not questioned at all. It’s extremely disappointing no one from the league called AT, our security team, or myself about what we felt like happened in this situation. There is a protocol to be followed, just coming from the NBA. There have been many investigations with calls on both sides, and that did not happen here, and that’s disappointing,” Tibbetts said.
Tibbetts spoke as Phoenix prepared to face Indiana again after the one-game suspension was announced following a postgame review. Fever head coach Stephanie White had earlier criticized Thomas’s actions and the league’s in-game response, calling it a cheap shot and saying the behavior was egregious, disrespectful, and unacceptable.
Tibbetts pushed back against the cheap-shot characterization, noting that AT is a known competitor and not a cheap player. “The people in this league know who AT is. She’s a competitor, a winner, and she’s tough. One thing she is not is cheap. I respect Steph White. I know her well from USA Basketball and I understand her stance, but to say we had two cheap shots in that game is ridiculous. Steph knows AT and what she stands for,” Tibbetts said.
The Fever and Mercury are slated to meet again on July 9 at Phoenix’s Mortgage Matchup Center for their final regular-season matchup.