Dan Dakich rips Alyssa Thomas after Caitlin Clark hit, says WNBA stars dodge blame again
Alyssa Thomas says WNBA players are being unfairly painted as villains after the latest controversy involving Caitlin Clark.
Dan Dakich says Thomas' response is part of a larger pattern of WNBA players refusing to take responsibility for their own actions.
The Mercury forward addressed reporters after the league suspended her one game for "recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area" of Clark during Phoenix's June 24 win over the Indiana Fever.
Thomas said some players, including herself, didn’t even know the play had become a major controversy until after the game.
"And now we’re being painted as thugs," Thomas said, adding that there are "death threats out on us."
SUSPENDED ALYSSA THOMAS RECEIVES SUPPORT FROM TEAMMATE & COACH AFTER CHEAP SHOT ON CAITLIN CLARK
Dakich isn't buying it.
During Tuesday’s episode of "Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich," the OutKick host reacted to Thomas’ comments and said her response was predictable.
"Say you’ve gotten death threats, blame the fans," Dakich said. "You've got to blame the fans because you can’t take personal responsibility."
But he wasn’t done.
"Because for 30 years, angry lesbians, African-American lesbians in the WNBA haven’t had to take any personal responsibility," Dakich continued. "Everybody else, Diana Taurasi, you see it with Paige Bueckers and others, go along to get along.
"Well, you know what the only person not talking is? Caitlin Clark."
Exactly.
Clark took the hit and mostly stayed quiet.
Everyone else did plenty of talking.
That’s become a familiar pattern around the WNBA. Clark brings the attention, the crowds and the money. Then when things get ugly, the conversation somehow shifts away from what happened to Clark and instead focuses on how it affects the players attempting to injure her.
WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert happily played along with the game, releasing a statement supporting Thomas while remaining silent on Clark.
"The WNBA vehemently condemns any and all forms of hate. The safety and well-being of everyone in our community is always the league’s top priority," Engelbert said in a statement.
"We are aware of Alyssa Thomas’ comments, and what she and her teammates have experienced is completely unacceptable and not representative of the WNBA community. The league and our security team have been in contact with the Phoenix Mercury organization and remain committed to protecting all players."
Of course, Thomas didn't think that was good enough.
"The league needs to put a stand on it," Thomas said. "They came out with no hate speech, but what is that gonna do?
"I’m sick and tired of it. It’s time for them to stand up and have our backs in these instances."
No one is defending social-media death threats.
But Engelbert managed to issue a statement for Thomas pretty quickly.
So where was the statement for Clark?
That’s the question trailblazing women’s sports reporter Christine Brennan had when she joined Dakich.
"Is the league going to speak out at all about the visual that will live with this league, I believe forever?" Brennan asked.
"I think that picture, the fist to the throat, is that big of a deal," Brennan continued. "Caitlin Clark, with all the TV ratings, all the attendance figures, everything that she has brought, she has made Alyssa Thomas’ life better. She’s making more money, she's not in the middle seat anymore in coach... And instead, you’ve got the fist to the throat."
That’s a pretty brutal, but accurate, summary of the WNBA's Caitlin Clark era so far.
Clark made the WNBA bigger, richer and more famous. Not just for herself, either. Players, coaches and owners all benefited.
She especially helped the other players, turning charter flights from a talking point into reality and becoming a major reason the WNBPA had leverage for massive pay increases in the new 2026 CBA (an agreement that doesn't even fully benefit Clark, who signed her rookie contract prior to its adoption, making her incredibly underpaid from a salary standpoint).
And yet, the league still seems woefully unprepared for everything that comes with her.
Brennan said the WNBA failed from the beginning.
"It’s just the lack of anticipation of the moment when you could see it coming a mile away," Brennan said, pointing to the massive audience Clark brought to women’s college basketball before she ever entered the WNBA.
"And then the WNBA was completely and utterly unprepared for the moment," Brennan said.
That seems pretty obvious at this point.
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The WNBA wanted attention, money, TV viewers and mainstream relevance. Clark delivered all of it.
Now, the league has to figure out how to handle everything that comes with having a true superstar.
Nearly three years in, it apparently still doesn't have the slightest clue.