The NBA’s top executive may have had a hand in the fallout from the WNBA’s most controversial moment this season. A Sports Business Journal report has put the WNBA’s handling of Alyssa Thomas’ suspension back under the spotlight after it claimed NBA commissioner Adam Silver played a behind-the-scenes role in one of the most debated disciplinary decisions this season.
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According to Sports Business Journal’s Tom Friend, Silver implored WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert to reverse course and suspend Thomas following her June 24 on-court incident involving Caitlin Clark.
“WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert was not planning to suspend Alyssa Thomas… until NBA Commissioner Adam Silver implored her to reverse course and issue the discipline,” Friend wrote.
Cathy Engelbert was not planning to suspend Alyssa Thomas for incident involving Caitlin Clark until Adam Silver implored her to do so, per @TomFriendWriter, @SBJ.
According to Friend’s report, Engelbert and league officials initially believed a suspension would be too severe because officials did not assess a foul during the game.
Friend reported that Silver viewed the video differently. The NBA commissioner believed there was clear evidence of a flagrant violation and implored Engelbert to reverse course and issue a suspension. The report does not describe how the two commissioners communicated about the now-infamous incident with 6:52 remaining in the second quarter.
On June 24 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse, there was a loose-ball scramble that saw Clark fall to the ground just in front of Lexi Held’s feet. Her head seemed to make light contact with DeWanna Bonner’s knee, although that contact wasn’t what drew scrutiny. Thomas went in, seemingly to get the ball, but instead struck Clark’s throat with her fist.
When looking back at the play, the commentator said, “Caitlin to the ground…and that’s a hand to the neck, and Alyssa Thomas steps over her.”
Officials did not call a foul on the play, but the sequence quickly became one of the WNBA season’s most scrutinized moments. After a post-game review, the WNBA upgraded the play to a Flagrant 2, citing Thomas for “recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area” of Clark. Thomas received a one-game suspension and a $1,000 fine.
The Mercury player later said that the suspension itself was not her biggest frustration. Instead, she criticized the league’s lack of communication while revealing she had received death threats, racial slurs and other abuse after the incident.
“It’s not even about the suspension. If that’s what they felt was necessary in that moment, then so be it,” Thomas said on June 30. “There’s a lot of other plays that you can say the same about. The biggest thing is about our safety. We’re so concerned about the safety on the court, but time and time again, we’re having people threaten our lives, leaking addresses out there, putting crazy pictures that have nothing to do with basketball.”
Thomas also criticized Engelbert’s silence, saying, “We still have yet to hear anything from Cathy. It’s no surprise. You could see what’s being said on social media. Yeah, it’s unfortunate, but as usual, she remains silent. That’s unfortunate when our lives are being threatened.”
When speaking to reporters a few days later, Clark agreed with the league’s decision to upgrade the play to a Flagrant 2. However, she strongly condemned the online abuse directed at Thomas and other players.
“The harassment, the hate — none of that is OK,” Clark said on July 3. “That goes for the opposing teams we play, my teammates, and my coaches… I don’t want anyone to experience that.” She later added that she believed the prolonged focus on the incident had become “a real disservice to our league.”
More than a week later, on July 15, a Sports Business Journal report reignited the story.
The WNBA disputes the SBJ report
The WNBA disputed that account on Wednesday, with a league spokesperson calling the claim that Engelbert initially opposed suspending Thomas “absolutely false.”
Sources close to the league told Sports Business Journal that its referee operations and basketball operations departments followed their standard review process before recommending discipline.
The report adds to a difficult stretch for Engelbert.
She was already facing pressure after 11 Republican lawmakers sent her a letter on July 8 seeking answers about player safety following the Clark incident. The Indiana Fever organization publicly distanced itself from that letter, saying in a statement that neither the team nor Clark had any involvement in or knowledge of it before it was released.
Sports Business Journal reported that league insiders view the latest controversy as another challenge for the commissioner.
Silver has not publicly addressed the Sports Business Journal report, though he did comment more broadly on Engelbert’s tenure.
“Cathy and I work together, and I don’t want to speak for Cathy,” said Silver during the NBA Summer League. “But I’m very pleased with where the WNBA is. We made tremendous progress under her leadership over the last several years. Cathy continues to do a strong job building the league.”
He added that the two sides would have “ongoing discussions about what the future looks like,” but did not respond to questions about his reported role in Thomas’ suspension.