So, lads — let’s just get straight into this because this is wild. I actually planned to record this video last night, but I fell asleep. Yeah, I literally just passed out. I tweeted about it, said it was on my list, and then boom — out cold. But now that I’m awake, we’re diving straight in because what the Phoenix Mercury just did might honestly be one of the most blatant examples of tampering we’ve seen in the WNBA in a long, long time.
Like, how is this even allowed?
Let’s roll it back for a second.
Nate Tibbetts Just… Said It Out Loud
Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts is on record talking about how they “built a relationship” with DeWanna Bonner during her time with another team. He literally said, “We tried to get DB to come back to Phoenix… third time’s a charm.”
Hold on, what? You were trying to get her to come back while she was still under contract with the Indiana Fever? You’re admitting that your team and your players were recruiting her before she was even available? That’s literally the definition of tampering.
And then Tibbetts doubles down, saying Alyssa Thomas — Bonner’s partner — helped convince her to come to Phoenix. Like, are we just openly talking about player-to-player recruitment now? Because that’s basically saying, “Yeah, our star helped poach her girlfriend off another team.”
Even if the league can’t “police conversations between partners,” this is a terrible look. The coach is casually telling the world their best player got her partner to quit on her team so they could bring her in as a vet.
That’s not a quote you just say by accident.
The Whole Thing Was Planned
Here’s where it gets even messier — because this wasn’t some last-minute signing.
From everything we know, Bonner was never really planning to finish the season in Indiana. She blocked every trade the Fever tried to make. Every. Single. One. Her agent made sure of it.
Teams were literally told not to claim her off waivers. The message was clear: “She’s only going to Phoenix.”
So what does that tell you? That tells you this was already decided. They knew where she was going before she even got waived. That’s not a coincidence — that’s an arrangement.
Everyone Saw This Coming
And the funny part? Everyone kind of predicted this months ago.
Back when Alyssa Thomas was rumored to head to Phoenix, every WNBA fan assumed DeWanna Bonner was following right behind. It wasn’t even a hot take. People were like, “Yeah, she’s going to Phoenix eventually.”
But the way it happened? The way it was all timed? That’s what makes it shady. It looks like they took Indiana’s money, played along for a bit, and then dipped once the path was clear to Phoenix.
That’s not just a bad look — it’s a full-on ethical nightmare.
“We Needed Another Vet” — Yeah, No Kidding
Tibbetts said they needed another veteran for their playoff push. Fair. Every team wants that. But how you get that vet matters.
He basically admitted that Alyssa Thomas helped “in that a little bit.” Yeah, a little bit. Sure, Nate. A little bit.
Because according to you, that “little bit” involved convincing her partner to quit another team and find a way to land in Phoenix without a trade, without competition, without waiver claims.
That’s not a “little bit.” That’s the entire move.
Salary Cap Shenanigans?
And let’s be real — if you start pulling on this thread, it probably gets worse.
You’ve got a franchise that’s already been flirting with cap gymnastics, player loyalty loopholes, and these “friendly” recruitment moments that just so happen to work out perfectly for them. Add in this whole DeWanna Bonner situation, and it’s looking less like coincidence and more like coordination.
The optics are terrible. You can’t on one hand say you’re all about integrity and competition, and then on the other hand have your coach publicly outline how your players recruited a player under contract.
The League Has To Step In
If the WNBA wants to be taken seriously as a professional league, this can’t just be brushed off.
You can’t let a team openly talk about recruiting another team’s player while that player was still on that team. It undermines everything the league is trying to build — the fairness, the competition, the professionalism.
Whether it’s the Mercury, the Fever, or anyone else — if tampering happened, there needs to be an investigation. Period.
The Bottom Line
At the end of the day, even if you give Phoenix the maximum benefit of the doubt, the math still doesn’t add up.
Best-case scenario? They started talking to Bonner a week before she left the Fever.
Worst-case scenario? This was planned from the very start of the season.
Either way, that’s not clean. That’s not professional. And it sure as hell isn’t what the WNBA needs right now when it’s finally getting attention on a national level.
Phoenix might’ve thought they were being slick — but the more Tibbetts talks, the more it sounds like they just admitted to exactly what everyone already suspected.
Tampering, collusion, manipulation of the system — call it whatever you want. But one thing’s for sure: they didn’t even try to hide it.
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