https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lv5jJjkLXho

https://abcnews.com/video/134223346/

After listening to all the narratives about how egregious this was and the 1 game penalty is not enough, I was expecting to see a major infraction. A punch to the throat, or choking or forceful blow. 

Looks to me like she GENTLY placed her fist on THE RIGHT SIDE of Caitlin's throat for a couple of seconds.

You can play it in slow motion and do a freeze frame to make it seem much longer and much worse but the fact is:

1. Alyssa Thomas's  first was NOT in the center, most vulnerable part of her throat, instead it was on the right side by her right ear,.

2.  Note that Alyssa's eyes were looking BEHIND HER where the ball was NOT on the neck of Caitlin. If her objective was to hurt Caitlin, she would be looking at what she was doing in front of her. Instead she appeared to just be getting up and Caitlin's body was on the floor.

3. It's crystal clear that this was NOT a punch or that she was leaning her weight into her hand on the throat because her body weight was leaning in the OPPOSITE direction to get up in the opposite direction. 

4. This lasted all of 2 seconds.  A punch lasting less than 1 second can knock a boxer out of course but this was NO PUNCH. In fact, it was the opposite. She GENTLY put her fist on the right side of Caitlin's throat while leaning AWAY FROM Caitlin and getting up. 

5. Considering the tremendous physical contact that is part of basketball at this level..... blocking out, doing screens, battling for rebounds, collisions and so on, I would bet that in an average game, Caitlin's body is subjected to 100 times more harm than this fist, gently put on the right side of her throat caused.

6. Maybe she did it on purpose to send a message. So what? This is professional basketball where gifted athletes battle hard physically against each other for high stakes, not the US Chess Federation National Championships (where such an act might be enough to be suspended for life).

7. A 1 game suspension seems fair to me, regardless. There's no way that Caitlin's throat was hurt by this in any way based on what the video shows. Compared to the constant physical contact during EVERY game, which is accepted as part of the game,  this does not stand out as egregious enough for the extreme penalties being called for by some people.