Chiney Ogwumike's defense of Alyssa Thomas reinforced everything critics say about the WNBA media
Chiney Ogwumike claims Caitlin Clark can embellish contact, framing the Alyssa Thomas throat strike and WNBA suspension as a reaction to optics.
It takes remarkable intellectual gymnastics to watch the WNBA suspend Alyssa Thomas for striking Caitlin Clark in the throat and still argue that the controversy was driven more by optics than by the hit itself.Yet that's exactly where parts of the league's media landed.When Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas hit Caitlin Clark in the throat last Wednesday, the league eventually corrected the officials' mistake by upgrading the play to a Flagrant 2 and issuing a one-game suspension.
Some WNBA analysts searched for ways to justify the contact.Among the most egregious defenses came from former WNBA star and ESPN analyst Chiney Ogwumike.On Sunday, Ogwumike framed the incident as a broader discussion about officiating and social media optics.
WNBA SUSPENDS ALYSSA THOMAS FOR 'RECKLESSLY' HITTING CAITLIN CLARK IN THROAT DURING SCRAMBLERather than squarely criticizing Thomas for the hit, she suggested Clark "can embellish contact in certain situations."The twisted reasoning from Ogwumike lost a lot of people.LISA LESLIE SAYS WNBA OFFICIALS 'GOT TO DO BETTER' AFTER ALYSSA THOMAS SHOVED FIST INTO CAITLIN CLARK'S THROAT"This was a marquee matchup.
When you look at Alyssa Thomas and Caitlin Clark, they're both dominant players, but Alyssa plays on the edge. I know her, and Caitlin, at times, can embellish contact in certain situations," she said."Instead, the league found itself in a position where it had to be reactive.
Rather than controlling the game through officiating, it ended up responding after the fact by doing something it rarely does, issuing a suspension for a non-call."I'll add one more thing. I think that largely happened because of the optics.
Watching the play live, in real time, I didn't think much of it because players hit the floor all the time. But once narratives started forming around a freeze-frame image, that changed everything. I do think the league was reacting to the optics of that image."
Reactions on X called out Chiney's bias against Clark."And thi
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