You may know Stacey Dales for her work on the NFL Network, but she played five WNBA seasons and still pays close attention to the league.
She got fired up on social media Wednesday, first for the baffling commemorative 30-year anniversary poster that left off several league legends, as well as the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark.
She also responded to Wednesday night’s Fever game against the Phoenix Mercury, a physical affair that resulted in Clark leaving the game with a back issue and a Fever loss.
On one hotly debated play, Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas placed her fist on Clark’s throat and kneed her in the groin during a scramble for a loose ball. No foul was called.
Dales joined the “Dan Patrick Show” on Thursday, still trying to digest what she witnessed.
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“(Clark) takes an absolute beating,” Dales said. “You can’t call everything, so what are going to decide to call?”
“Caitlin is really hard to guard, and she’s really hard to officiate,” Dales added, pointing out that on a second-quarter 3-point shot, a close out by Phoenix’s Valeriane Ayayi was ruled a foul, but not a Flagrant 1 despite stepping into Clark’s landing area.
Thomas, Dales said, is a “really good player, but she gets away with stuff.”
“It’s dangerous to put your fist on somebody’s neck,” Dales continued, “whether it’s forceful or it was a tap. And then the knee to the groin.”
Dales noted that Clark doesn’t help her case by frequently putting her palms up while complaining to referees.
“That annoys officials,” Dales said, likening it to a parent who decides to stop trying to fix disagreements between siblings. “They don’t want to be stood up. They don’t want to be called out consistently.”
Dales said she wants to see action by the league: “(Commissioner) Cathy Engelbert has an opportunity today to rectify this and make a statement. We’ll see what she does.”
The Fever played the Mercury twice this week, and tempers ran hot throughout. On Monday night, five players received technical fouls after a dust-up that started with Clark being called for a foul while defending the Mercury’s DeWanna Bonner — who briefly played for the Fever in 2025 but left the team and was eventually waived. Soon after, she signed with the Mercury to join Thomas, her partner.
Dales, picked third overall by the Washington Mystics in the 2002 WNBA Draft, played five seasons between 2002-07, earning All-Star honors as a rookie. She averaged 9.2 points per game.
Here’s a sample of Dales’ social media activity Wednesday:
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Former WNBA player calls on league for action in wake of Caitlin Clark taking ‘absolute beating’
Reporting by Scott Horner, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Scott Horner, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
