When Indiana Fever made their first off-season move, it called for celebration from all around. Stephanie White gave a nod, Caitlin Clark geared up for a championship, and fans welcomed with open arms. “I just want to say thank you, thank you for all the love I’ve received so far,” DeWanna Bonner wrote in February. But 5 months in, the picture couldn’t have been much different. The Gainbridge Fieldhouse was filled with the loudest boos in a while, prompting Alyssa Thomas to step up. The viral clip doesn’t say so? Well, we have got an answer. 

Signed alongside Natasha Howard, the 2x champion was expected to be the veteran voice the Fever needed in the locker room. Having been a proven winner, she was the addition ticking all the right boxes for the franchise. So when starting minutes lessened and trade talks swirled about, the Fever fans shared one sentiment– heartbroken. They claimed Bonner had ‘given up’ instead of sticking by. So when the moment arrived for the 15-year veteran to play at Gainbridge again, fans’ disappointment was no surprise. 

A passionate crowd of 17,000 booed DeWanna Bonner as she checked in for the Phoenix Mercury. One of the first ones to bring us the clip from the arena? Fever beat reporter, Scott Agness. “DeWanna Bonner checks in, is immediately boo’d by Fever fans. Was part of Indiana for just nine games. Her partner, Alyssa Thomas, gestures to fans to keep bringing it,” he shared on X. 

And that’s where the noise seeped outside the arena– the player in the clip, gesturing the crowd, wasn’t Bonner’s fiancée, Thomas, but Satou Sabally. Fans were quick to call it a mistake, pointing, “Wrong Afro-American. SaTou Sabally gesturing.” But Agness had rectification. 

Alyssa Thomas did stand up for her fiancé, just not in the clip. “Nope, I was watching AT the whole time. To be clear, it was after I stopped recording — which is why I noted it,” the journalist tweeted. So Bonner, being the legend she is, indeed had the support all around her, if not in the stands.

Nate Tibbetts Doesn’t Get What All The Fuss Is About

Kahleah Copper from the Mercury camp was not happy with how the crowd welcomed Bonner. “very distasteful,” she called it, given Bonner’s legendary status and what she’s done for the league. But the Mercury forward wasn’t only one standing against it. 

Bonner’s fiancée, Alyssa Thomas, took a different approach: she waved at the crowd after Bonner was fouled in the first quarter, then could be seen on the broadcast yelling at fans in the stands. According to some accounts, Thomas said, “She came to play for a real team” several times, though none of these claims have been definitively confirmed. Mercury coach Nate Tibbetts was shown the video of Thomas’ fiery interaction with the crowd, but simply justified the entire situation with, “That’s how sports work.”

“I didn’t see that, (but) I would guess so. AT is a competitive player. Just like their players talk to their fans, our players are going to do the same,” Tibbetts said.

It’s a part and parcel of sports culture, and unless lines are crossed, this is a natural interaction. History proves it. When LeBron James left Cleveland for Miami, his first trip back was a firestorm, fans unleashed a barrage of boos and even torched his jerseys in the streets. When Kevin Durant wore a Warriors jersey in Oklahoma City for the first time, he faced not just jeers, but a relentless wave of “cupcake” taunts, a stinging jab at his loyalty. No one escapes this kind of heat. 

So Tibbetts continued, “That’s how sports work, you go to a former home of yours when you don’t leave on your terms and typically fans aren’t going to be happy. That’s what they did tonight.”

In the end, this heated exchange just shows how fierce loyalty and rivalry fuel the WNBA. Fans brought the fire, Alyssa Thomas gave it right back, and DeWanna Bonner stayed cool. No lines were crossed, just pure passion and intensity, exactly what sports are all about.