Phoenix Mercury Regular Season Thread. 2026

[Chaplin]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Stupid

 

[Adrian]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

 

[Chaplin]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Deserved. She’s the star of the team. No reason for her to do what she did.

I'm not sure why I'm so mad about this. I'm not even a huge follower of the W.

 

[Yuma]

xc_hide_links_from_guests_guests_error_hide_media

Watching it on replay, it looks incidental. When I heard she "punched" Clark, I pictured in my mind a wind up and punch like a boxer. If her hand had been open instead of clenched, it would have been a no call. It's BS. But the league is really protecting Clark.

 

[Chaplin]

Watching it on replay, it looks incidental. When I heard she "punched" Clark, I pictured in my mind a wind up and punch like a boxer. If her hand had been open instead of clenched, it would have been a no call. It's BS. But the league is really protecting Clark.

Are you really trying to explain it away?

 

[Yuma]

Are you really trying to explain it away?

No. Adrian posted a replay where the commentators said the same thing. I explain what I mean in another post in the Caitlin Clark thread. I've seen Mercury players straight up get punched for real and there was no giant outcry. It happens in the WNBA to other players all the time. It is rough play at times in the league. These ladies take a lot. They also don't have tons of fans treating them like they are Taylor Swift and flood social media when something happens to them. Clark is a viral phenom that gets treated with kid gloves. Good for her.

 

[Chaplin]

No. Adrian posted a replay where the commentators said the same thing. I explain what I mean in another post in the Caitlin Clark thread. I've seen Mercury players straight up get punched for real and there was no giant outcry. It happens in the WNBA to other players all the time. It is rough play at times in the league. These ladies take a lot. They also don't have tons of fans treating them like they are Taylor Swift and flood social media when something happens to them. Clark is a viral phenom that gets treated with kid gloves. Good for her.

I'm trying to understand what you mean when you say that Clark is treated with kid gloves. Can you elaborate?

At the end of the day, I think Clark is treated just the opposite. She is being made into a villain by other players and the league. And this is the one person that expanded the WNBA into a phenomenon, and they try every dirty trick in the book to attack her.

 

[Yuma]

I'm trying to understand what you mean when you say that Clark is treated with kid gloves. Can you elaborate?

At the end of the day, I think Clark is treated just the opposite. She is being made into a villain by other players and the league. And this is the one person that expanded the WNBA into a phenomenon, and they try every dirty trick in the book to attack her.

IDK. You don't watch the WNBA. You see clips of Clark, and the narrative they are out to destroy her. When I watch, I see here getting hard fouls, just like every other star player on any team. Watch the Mercury. Copper gets just totally blasted on plays. She's got Copper on the back of her jersey, not Clark. So do we see Sport Center highlights of Copper getting destroyed on plays? Nope. Do we see EVERY hard foul on Clark? Yep. If Sport Center misses it, it's instantly on social media.

There's a lot of hype and narrative. No one is out to get her. If you watch objectively, it's just normal WNBA play. The refs suck, just like the NBA. There's gals throwing elbows, knocking each other down, pushing fights, etc. I've seen Clark herself throw elbows.

All I can say, is I've been in a few scraps in my life. No one throws a punch in anger without bending and elbow. Thomas was scrapping for the ball and her arms were straight. The video looks a lot worse than it actually was. Again the refs suck, but there was no call on that. Thomas is a big lady. If she wanted to hurt Clark, she could have easily done it. Thomas got flooded after that on social media. Again, same thing happens between Clark and someone else, it's a non story. The Mercury aren't going anywhere this year. Thomas sitting out doesn't hurt our season. I really doubt she was trying to cheap shot Clark.

 

[Chaplin]

IDK. You don't watch the WNBA. You see clips of Clark, and the narrative they are out to destroy her. When I watch, I see here getting hard fouls, just like every other star player on any team. Watch the Mercury. Copper gets just totally blasted on plays. She's got Copper on the back of her jersey, not Clark. So do we see Sport Center highlights of Copper getting destroyed on plays? Nope. Do we see EVERY hard foul on Clark? Yep. If Sport Center misses it, it's instantly on social media.

There's a lot of hype and narrative. No one is out to get her. If you watch objectively, it's just normal WNBA play. The refs suck, just like the NBA. There's gals throwing elbows, knocking each other down, pushing fights, etc. I've seen Clark herself throw elbows.

All I can say, is I've been in a few scraps in my life. No one throws a punch in anger without bending and elbow. Thomas was scrapping for the ball and her arms were straight. The video looks a lot worse than it actually was. Again the refs suck, but there was no call on that. Thomas is a big lady. If she wanted to hurt Clark, she could have easily done it. Thomas got flooded after that on social media. Again, same thing happens between Clark and someone else, it's a non story. The Mercury aren't going anywhere this year. Thomas sitting out doesn't hurt our season. I really doubt she was trying to cheap shot Clark.

Are you kidding me? Sure we see most, if not all, of the cheap shots that Clark gets. It's ridiculous that we are even talking about this. The refs don't matter here. Whether they call a Technical or a flagrant or whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is this stuff is happening and the WNBA does not care. The players HATE Clark. You know it, and I know it. She made the league more popular and the players that have been there resent that.

We'll just disagree there. Putting a fist on a players throat is not a normal basketball move, hell, it's not even a normal human move. It was intentional, and if you don't think so, then you're wearing your bias.

 

[Yuma]

Are you kidding me? Sure we see most, if not all, of the cheap shots that Clark gets. It's ridiculous that we are even talking about this. The refs don't matter here. Whether they call a Technical or a flagrant or whatever, it doesn't matter. What matters is this stuff is happening and the WNBA does not care. The players HATE Clark. You know it, and I know it. She made the league more popular and the players that have been there resent that.

We'll just disagree there. Putting a fist on a players throat is not a normal basketball move, hell, it's not even a normal human move. It was intentional, and if you don't think so, then you're wearing your bias.

Really? That Thomas is getting a suspended refutes that.

 

[Chaplin]

Really? That Clark is getting a suspended refutes that.

I'm guessing you meant that Thomas getting suspended refutes that.

You do know the amount of uproar about what Thomas did has forced the WNBA's hand, right? If Stephen A or Colin Cowherd hadn't said anything, Thomas almost certainly wouldn't have been suspended.

The WNBA has been in a "save face" mode for awhile now, and it's pathetic that they have to keep doing it.