Steve Long

A milestone fit for the Hall of Famer 👑 Congratulations to Cheryl Reeve of the @minnesotalynx for becoming the WNBA’s all-time winningest head coach! With tonight's win, Reeve earned her 380th career victory with the Lynx franchise! #WNBASeason30

@Shraddhaszn01 CC is a role model. Yes, she is a generational talent. But she is so humble, resilient, level headed, doesn’t rip other players, and speaks out against discrimination and hate. CC is a player kids can look up to. No matter what sport: CC is all class. CC is a role model. @WNBA

This is why Caitlin Clark is the face of WNBA Well spoken.

@YoitsRosie CC is all class.

1. She denounces the harassment and hate. 2. She calls for more attention on the rest of the games and off the incident. 3. She uplifts the rest of the league. And we move.

@BleacherReport @ShamsCharania Come to Minny! You can be the player that puts us over the top and helps the franchise win it’s first championship! The enthusiasm and welcoming crowd in Minnesota would love to see you, Ant, Rudy, Ayo, and Lamello choose the underdog Wolves!

LeBron James is willing to accept a minimum contract to play for a contender, per @ShamsCharania He doesn't intend to make a "financially-driven decision"

As a writer, it is becoming increasingly difficult to cover the WNBA with the distance the job requires. That is not something I say lightly. Any serious writer understands the responsibility of separating observation from emotion, evidence from outrage, and analysis from personal bias. But Cathy Engelbert and the WNBA are making that separation harder by the day. The latest example is almost impossible to defend. The commissioner released a statement that appeared far more concerned with protecting the image of Caitlin Clark’s attacker than addressing what happened to Caitlin Clark herself... a star player who was throat punched, kneed, and trampled in a sequence that had very nothing to do with basketball. At some point, silence becomes its own statement. At some point, selective outrage becomes evidence. And at some point, the refusal to protect the league’s most important player stops looking like incompetence and starts looking intentional. Caitlin Clark did not enter the WNBA asking to be a symbol. She came to play basketball. She came to compete. She came to join a league filled with players she once admired. Instead, she has been asked to endure a level of hostility that no professional organization should tolerate. The physical play is only part of the issue. The larger failure is institutional. The league has failed her. The Fever have failed her. Too many players have failed her. And now the commissioner has failed her publicly. The next few days will be telling. At a bare minimum, the Fever organization, its coaches, and its players should publicly support Caitlin Clark and make clear that what happened to her should never be normalized. They do not need to attack anyone. They do not need to escalate the controversy. But they do need to stand beside their teammate. Because if they do not, it becomes increasingly difficult to see a healthy path forward for Clark in a league where she is asked to absorb repeated physical punishment, public minimization, and institutional silence without visible support from the people closest to her professionally. There is also a human element here that should not be ignored. Clark is not just a basketball asset. She is someone’s daughter. Someone’s sister. Someone’s friend. And at some point, the people around her... family, representatives, sponsors, and trusted advisors... may need to ask whether any amount of money, fame, or professional opportunity is worth this level of physical and emotional strain. Basketball is supposed to be demanding. It is not supposed to be dehumanizing. Clark has handled it with grace. That should be acknowledged. But grace should not be required in the face of repeated mistreatment. There comes a point when asking a young athlete to keep absorbing the blows... physical, public, and psychological... becomes indefensible. For months, I dismissed calls for outside intervention as excessive. I no longer feel that way. If the WNBA cannot protect its own players fairly, then perhaps it is time for someone outside the league to ask why. Fans, media members, former players, abuse survivors, and anyone who cares about basic fairness should speak up. This is no longer just about basketball. It is about workplace protection. It is about institutional accountability. It is about whether a professional league can allow one of its employees to be targeted, minimized, and publicly abandoned without consequence. The WNBA does not need another statement. It needs accountability. And it needs it now.

@ginamilan_ CC is all class!

The real victim has stayed silent. The player who throat-punched Caitlin Clark is the one out here playing the victim. That tells you everything you need to know about the character of both women.

@FroemelAndy Pathetic @WNBA! Engelbert you really should resign so CC can continue leading the W forward with class.

Caitlin Clark is harassed for three years by fans, media, players, and assaulted by other players and the WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert said nothing. Alyssa Thomas plays victim after punching Caitlin Clark in the neck and Cathy defends her. Bring Cathy Engelbert before Congress to testify about Caitlin Clark’s Civil Rights being violated. Senator Mike Lee is tagged so let him know you want to see an investigation. @CathyEngelbert @BasedMikeLee

@BizzyBones11 So glad you’re back! Your enthusiasm, energy, passion, jump starts the game every time you step on the court, and your 3 point celebration is absolutely epic! Minny is blessed to have you sir!

Minny i’m back let’s do it 🐺 🤞🏽

@USATODAY Minnesota is also a very realistic option. LeBron could secure his legacy as the GOAT by putting the Timberwolves over the top for the franchise’s first ever championship! Talk about prioritizing fun: wow!

LeBron James plans to leave the Los Angeles Lakers. The Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers are possible landing spots for next season. usatoday.com/story/sports/n…

@TWolvesLead @JonKrawczynski Bones is awesome! Enthusiastic, energetic, a sweet shot, and his 3 pt celebration move is epic!

BONES HYLAND IS RETURNING TO THE TIMBERWOLVES NEXT SEASON (via: @JonKrawczynski)

@hprazers25413 CC is all class on and off the court. She is not only the @WNBA MVP on the court but a good person off the court. CC is the face of the W.

@IndianaFever CC is a great role model! The face of the W is a winner!

Caitlin Clark took time to sign autographs for fans ahead of tonight's game ❤️

@power_ties CC is the greatest thing to ever happen for the @WNBA. She is the biggest draw the W has ever had. @CathyEngelbert is a disgraceful Commissioner. She should be celebrating CC and ensuring she is fairly officiated. She has failed over and over. Engelbert should resign.

Why Caitlin is being taken out... ... again

@Michele_Tafoya @WNBA Physical assault is NEVER ok: including during a basketball game. Thomas should receive a major suspension (ie full season). The Commissioner should resign.

Why is the @WNBA allowing its most valuable player to be physically attacked? I’ve seen no evidence of any other player being targeted this way. And this was not an isolated event. These incidents are unacceptable, and they’ve been perpetuated by the league’s failure to act. The WNBA must do more to protect @caitlinclark22.

@cbrennansports @usatodaysports CC is a generational league changing star. Thomas committed assault. She should be arrested. Thomas is a violent thug. She should be banned from the @WNBA for a FULL Season-or maybe a lifetime ban would send the message about where the W stands on flagrant intentional assault.

A fist to the throat. A suspension that is way too lenient. My @usatodaysports column on what Alyssa Thomas and other WNBA players have done to Caitlin Clark, the most famous, marketable and important women’s pro team sport athlete in history. usatoday.com/story/sports/w…

@ithompsonfdn @WNBA Thomas needs a full season suspension or lifetime ban. Anything less is the @WNBA saying assault is ok. The outrage is across the board: Only the @WNBA endorses the Thomas Assault.

I am passionate about women’s basketball and have loved watching it grow over the last 30 years. If Caitlin walks away, I will enjoy watching it fail. @WNBA you still might have time to turn this around, if you actually care about your sport.

@UnderdogWNBA Slap on the wrist. Sends message to all folks that look up to best women’s players on planet that: *Dirty play is a-ok *Physically assaulting other women in the W is no biggie-1 game out and back on court *If you can’t win fair and square, injure the other women. Shame on @WNBA

Alyssa Thomas suspended 1 game for "recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area of Caitlin Clark."

@IndianaFever 1 game is a start. Thomas should receive a full season suspension or lifetime ban. Intentional violent assault on CC or any player is unacceptable @WNBA @ESPN

@SammyF99 @WNBA Until the @WNBA acknowledges CC as the woman who took the league to a new level… Until they hire a competent Commissioner… Until thugs like A. Thomas are banned or long term suspended for dirty on court assaults… The W will lose more and more fans! Thanks for doing your part!

I did my part. I been a league subscriber since 2016 and a @WNBA supporter since 1997. I am done ✌🏾✌🏾

@ABC This was not getting “roughed up”-this was a violent assault. Have you watched the clip @ABC? @WNBA’s 1 game suspension sends the message that the Thomas Assault is no big deal. Pathetic.

After a 2025 season derailed by injury, Caitlin Clark was roughed up once again on Wednesday night, leaving the game with a back injury after taking a fist to the throat earlier in the game. abcnews.link/hikOj1l