A former National Basketball Association medical consultant has raised serious concerns about the physical safety of Caitlin Clark in the Women's National Basketball Association.
Dr. Nicholas DiNubile, a former orthopedic consultant for the Philadelphia 76ers, pointed to a recent uncalled throat strike against the Indiana Fever guard by Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas during a June 24 game.
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The league later upgraded the incident to a retroactive Flagrant 2 foul and suspended Thomas for one game.
Thomas described the play as a "complete accident."
"The type of contact and the amount of contact that she gets is concerning to me. It's troubling to me," DiNubile said.
He emphasized that impacts to the neck area can have catastrophic health implications for professional athletes.
"You can crush someone's larynx with very little pressure. Ten to 20 pounds of pressure can damage the throat or larynx area," DiNubile explained.
"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."
He noted that such injuries would present unprecedented on-court emergencies for medical staff.
"I wouldn't want to be the team doctor having to deal with that. That's what keeps us up at night," he said.
Pattern of Physical Contact
According to Fox News Digital, Clark has faced 13 documented instances of controversial physical contact since her 2024 rookie debut, including a ruptured eardrum and multiple eye pokes.
