Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White denounced “unacceptable” fan behavior Wednesday in response to Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas revealing that she has received hateful online messages, including death threats.White added that the WNBA is about “inclusiveness” and “elevating marginalized communities.” Thomas was assessed a flagrant foul 2 penalty, fined $1,000 and suspended one game last week for pushing her right fist into Fever star Caitlin Clark’s throat while they were tangled up on the floor.“As a league, there’s been so much more toxicity, racism, homophobia, straight out nonsense. Hate (and) nonsense,” White told reporters at Wednesday’s practice. “And it is absolutely unacceptable. Most of this (is) coming from the online community. Most of this, in my heart of hearts, I believe is not coming from WNBA fans, Indiana Fever fans. I believe that this is people who are using our league, using our players to further divisive agendas.”White, who coached Thomas for two seasons with the Connecticut Sun, initially called Thomas’ flagrant foul on Clark “crazy” and “dangerous.” The play was originally a no-call, but the WNBA later upgraded it to a flagrant foul 2 penalty, and suspended Thomas for the first time in her 13-year WNBA career. White said last week that she was disappointed the officials missed the incident in real time, but added that she was pleased the league reviewed it and punished Thomas.The hate Thomas has received since then, however, has crossed the line, White said Wednesday. Thomas, a six-time All-Star, called out the league for remaining silent “while having people threatening our lives.”“It’s not even about the suspension. If that’s what they felt was necessary in that moment, then so be it,” Thomas told reporters Tuesday. “… I think the biggest thing is it’s just about our safety. We’re so concerned with the safety on the court, but time and time again we’re having people threatening our lives, leaking addresses out there, putting crazy pictures (online) that have nothing to do with basketball.”On Wednesday, White defended Thomas’ comments, which she said she hadn’t heard until Tuesday night. The coach noted that there’s a difference between fairly criticizing a player’s on-court performance, or even the incident that resulted in Thomas’ suspension, and harassing them online with personal and targeted attacks.“With fans, and the love/hate relationship that they have with players and teams, that is going to come,” White said. “But it’s not hard to not be a jerk. And if you are one of these people that are online doing this, do not call yourself a WNBA fan.“Our league is about inclusiveness,” White continued. “Our league is about competition. Our league is about elevating. Elevating women, elevating marginalized communities (and) including, empowering and being inclusive of all different walks of life. That is what our league has always been about.”White added that “none of us can control social media,” but she, like Thomas, said the WNBA should continue to explore any avenue it can to further protect players from online hate.Thomas will return from her suspension Thursday when the Mercury host the Seattle Storm. The Fever, meanwhile, will resume their season Sunday at the Las Vegas Aces.Phoenix will host Indiana on July 9 in the final regular-season matchup between the teams, which could be the first time Thomas and Clark share the court since their incident.Clark, who has dealt with back issues all season, missed the Fever’s last game after aggravating her back and has not practiced with the team since. Clark is doing individual workouts, according to White, but there is still no definitive timeline of when she could return.“Every day is a little bit better,” White said of Clark. “And again, I reiterate for those who haven’t had back issues, every day can be something different. You can feel really good in practices or workouts or warmups or whatever, and then you go to bed at night, wake up and it’s different. … The back is a nagging injury that manifests itself in different ways.”Jul 1, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms