Even though it's been a week since the controversial incident where Alyssa Thomas pressed Caitlin Clark's throat while she was on the ground, there's still quite a lot to say on the matter. One former NBA doctor believes that it could have been worse and issued a warning to Clark.
Speaking to Fox News, former 76ers orthopedic consultant Dr. Nicholas DiNubile warned that with only a little bit of pressure, Thomas could have crushed Clark's larynx on the controversial play. He said that even a single blow could have created "a very rapid life-or-death situation" that even he would have struggled to deal with.
"The type of contact and the amount of contact that she gets is concerning to me. It’s troubling to me," DiNubile said. "You can crush someone’s larynx with very little pressure. Ten to 20 pounds of pressure can damage the throat or larynx area. Even if you don’t fracture the larynx, a blow to that area, you could get some swelling or bleeding and close the airway and get into a very rapid life-or-death situation. I wouldn’t want to be the team doctor having to deal with that. That’s what keeps us up at night, those kind of things that you have to respond to on the court... you can’t go for the throat."
DiNubile also expressed deeper concern over the amount of physical contact Clark takes regularly, specifically to her face.
"She gets a lot to her face. She gets poked in the eye. She gets hit in the face," DiNubile said. "And they also, with her three-point shooting... there's a lot of where they get in her space and her landing space. You see that way too often and that's very, very dangerous.
"Just getting hit on the head and hit across the head, you know, head injuries, concussions, any variety of things like that. Then you fall to the floor and anything can happen when you fall to the floor. So, um, just not good and not necessary. I don't think it's necessary."
Unfortunately, Dr. DiNubile did not have much in the way of advice as far as what Clark herself can do to avoid suffering head or face injuries. He suggested that the WNBA's officials do more to protect the players through better calls on the floor.
"I don't think there's anything she can do," he said when asked if Clark can do to avoid injuries from the hard contact.
"It's hard to protect yourself with those type of... And that's why they're flagrant fouls, right? You just... There, there's no way to really protect yourself in those instances... she takes it in stride. I don't think she brings any of it on herself."
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The Incident
The WNBA suspended Alyssa Thomas for one game after reviewing the incident from the game between the Phoenix Mercury and the Indiana Fever. The league upgraded the play to a Flagrant Foul 2, ruling that Thomas had "recklessly made contact with her fist to the throat area" of Caitlin Clark during a loose-ball scramble in the second quarter.
No foul was called during the game, but the WNBA exercised its authority to review the play after the fact and imposed the suspension.
The incident sparked widespread debate because it came during an already physical stretch of games involving the Fever and because Fever head coach Stephanie White sharply criticized the officiating, calling the no-call "egregious" and "utterly disrespectful."
The suspension fueled further discussion about player safety, the league's handling of physical play involving Clark, and whether officials should have ejected Thomas during the game itself. Reaction to the punishment was mixed, with some observers arguing a one-game suspension was appropriate under league rules, while others believed the penalty was either too lenient or too harsh given the circumstances.
