Did the WNBA say Caitlin Clark would get a technical foul for lifting her knee toward Alyssa Thomas during a game? No, that's not true: The WNBA did not release such a statement immediately after the game. There are no statements on any of the WNBA official social media accounts saying Clark would get a technical foul. No credible sports or news outlets are reporting a foul for Clark.
The claim appeared in a June 24, 2026, post on X account @HUSKER_DOO_1200 (archived here). It opened:
WNBA OFFICIAL STATEMENT:
Reviewing the footage of the interaction of Alyssa Thomas and Caitlin Clark, we determined Clark lifter her knees toward Thomas forcing Thomas to brace herself from falling. Caitlin Clark will be assess a post game technical 1.
This is what the post looked like on X at the time of writing:
(Image source: post by @HUSKER_DOO_1200 on X.)
Here is the video of the incident included in the post on X:
WNBA OFFICIAL STATEMENT:
-- FORTYFOUR_12oo (@HUSKER_D00_1200) June 24, 2026
Reviewing the footage of the interaction of Alyssa Thomas and Caitlin Clark, we determined Clark lifter her knees toward Thomas forcing Thomas to brace herself from falling. Caitlin Clark will be assess a post game technical 1. pic.twitter.com/fjq3fnKIbn
On June 25, 2026, the day after the game and after the X post was published, the WNBA released a statement to Lead Stories, stating Thomas had received a "flagrant foul 2 penalty" and a one-game suspension for the incident, not that Clark was given a foul.
NEW YORK, June 25, 2026 -- Upon postgame review, the Phoenix Mercury's Alyssa Thomas has received a Flagrant Foul 2 penalty and a one-game suspension for recklessly making contact with her fist to the throat area of Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark, it was announced today by the WNBA.
The incident, for which Thomas was deemed to have committed a non-basketball act, occurred with 6:52 remaining in the second quarter of the Mercury's 111-109 win over the Fever last night at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.
Per WNBA rule, the League Office has the option, following its review of any game, to reclassify a Flagrant foul or to classify as Flagrant any foul not called as such during a game and may impose a fine and/or suspension.
Thomas will serve her suspension on June 27, when the Mercury visit the Toronto Tempo.
Here is a screenshot of the WNBA press release sent to Lead Stories:
(Image source: WNBA.)
A loose-ball scramble during the June 24, 2026, game between the Indiana Fever and Phoenix Mercury ended with Phoenix's Thomas putting her fist into Clark's neck, as CBS Sports reported (archived here). No foul was called on either Thomas or Clark. Clark's coach Stephanie White called Thomas' conduct "egregious and utterly disrespectful" during the post-game press conference.
The WNBA did not release a statement the same night as the game. The claim was made in the X post on June 24, 2026, hours after the incident. A search of the official WNBA X account (archived here) and WNBA.com (archived here) did not find any such message about a Clark foul.
Because of Clark's high profile, had she been assessed a "postgame technical" it would have been major news, with sports and news outlets reporting on the punishment. Lead Stories searched Google (archived here) and Yahoo (archived here) and did not find any credible news reports about Clark being given a technical foul.
