Not one ponytailed girl hanging over the railing cried out for the attention and the autograph of a referee. Not a single ticket-buying fan walking around the concourse at Gainbridge Fieldhouse wore a fawning T-shirt with the image of a goat blowing a whistle. And yet, when the Connecticut Sun faced the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night, the officials muscled their way into the spotlight.
That’s a problem. For the people who love the WNBA, the players who better have great health insurance just to work in this league, and for the league itself. Because the truth is, the basketball here is evolving, but the inadequate officiating is not.
That was evident during the skirmishes between Sun veteran Marina Mabrey and the Fever’s Caitlin Clark, which were followed by a late-game fight between Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and the Sun’s Jacy Sheldon. Before all that, the referees swallowed their whistles too many times, missed too many shoves. As a result, Fever Coach Stephanie White delivered some blows of her own. On the night her team became the Eastern Conference representative in the Commissioner’s Cup final with an 88-71 win over the Sun, White let loose on officiating that’s harming the game.
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“Players are faster, they’re better, they’re bigger, they’re stronger,” White said. “Things are happening quickly. Everybody’s getting better, except the officials.”
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If the officiating crew had been paying attention, this game was boiling from the beginning. Clark had been fending off Sun defenders, either Sheldon or Saniya Rivers, who at times checked her over the length of the court. Clark — who finishes her pregame routine by absorbing and playing through contact from a male Fever staffer — would swat their arms away and move to her spots effortlessly. She has no problem giving the physicality right back, which she did before the midway point of the third quarter, throwing a two-handed shove into Sheldon. The refs missed that one.
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Clark and Sheldon would meet again. Clark was dribbling with her back to the defender, trying to work the offense, with Sheldon pushing and holding her ground. When Clark turned, Sheldon’s hands moved from the lower body to higher up, catching Clark in the face. She instinctively grabbed her eye, and just as instinctively pushed Sheldon away. That’s when Mabrey and Tina Charles responded. Both rushed in, but Mabrey got there first, ramming into Clark.
Soon, the locals were booing and the trolls were steaming. For pushing down this city’s darling, Mabrey will never get the hookup at St. Elmo’s again. And for savagely ambushing the league’s sweetheart (at least in the eyes of the casuals), Mabrey will now receive the Chennedy Carter treatment across social media.
The refs could have taken the game back by deeming Mabrey’s contact unnecessary and excessive — an immediate ejection. Instead, the officiating crew huddled for far too long to review the play — an animated Clark could be seen twirling her hands as if to tell the refs to hurry up — before deciding that Mabrey’s actions merely warranted a technical.
A harsher punishment might have served as a warning for everyone to chill out. Instead, a growing rage mushroomed past the point of control.
“When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow stuff to happen, and it’s been happening all season long … this is what happens,” White said. “You’ve got competitive women, who are the best in the world at what they do, right? And when you allow them to play physical, and you allow these things to happen, they’re going to compete.”
White had been sounding an alarm for weeks about “disrespectful” officiating. Tuesday night, there was no bias. Just blindness. How could the officiating trio not have noticed the clashes around the perimeter? The extra stuff happening inside? Or be aware of the potential for bitterness between Mabrey, a fierce competitor and a holdover from the Sun team that eliminated the Fever last year in the playoffs, and Clark, who had her rookie season run-ins with Connecticut?
It seems the refs still haven’t learned that it takes more than a long review — and a decision to essentially play on — to supervise the most physical basketball league in our land.
There are a few places on Earth I would never want to find myself alone: a dark alley around Adams Morgan (the rats are more frightening than a mugger), the comments section of a review that doesn’t gush over the Cowboy Carter Tour, and the paint in a WNBA arena. Throughout this game — just like any game in the W, on any given night — the paint was no place for punks. In the first half, Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell got yanked down from behind. Later, another Fever guard, Lexie Hull, took a blow to her chin, and somehow she was called for the foul.
And inside this amphitheater of agony, three players collided late in the game, all crashing to the floor, Cunningham being one of them.
Cunningham was lionized on social media for standing up for Clark, but she had her own grievances, motivating her for some good ol’ fashioned get-back. So defending Clark probably wasn’t top of mind as she chased down Sheldon, grabbed her shoulders, threw her down and incited a fight.
Not one of those “hold-me-back” NBA play fights, either. Hands thrown, grappling moves activated and bystanders on the baseline skittering out of the way.
The paint in the WNBA is a physical and violent and often unsafe place. It’s high time these refs learned how to officiate it.
Not just for Clark’s benefit, either. Across the league, the demand for improved officiating is growing. Last month, Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner pulled away from a live interview when she noticed two officials exiting the floor. Incensed about the lack of foul calls, Griner offered some unsolicited advice: “Be f------ better!”
After a game against the Los Angeles Sparks last week, Las Vegas Aces Coach Becky Hammon rested her face on her left hand and spoke flatly while telling reporters how three-time MVP A’ja Wilson “got elbowed … [and] was bleeding.” No foul was called, but Wilson has missed three games while in concussion protocol. Hammon, who led the Aces to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, scrapped diplomacy this week after rookie Aaliyah Nye also took a hit to the face.
“I think it’s something that people really have to start looking at because, people are dropping like flies with concussions. And it’s not just our team,” Hammon said, referencing the head injuries suffered by star rookie Paige Bueckers and the Washington Mystics’ Shakira Austin. “There’s been too many shots to the face. … This is a physical game. I don’t think anyone’s trying to hurt anybody; however, there are some vicious ones.”
Back in Indiana, where Mabrey may need to use a pseudonym the next time she books a hotel room, Clark wasn’t about to let the fire die down. Before leaving the game with 3:48 remaining, Clark hit a three that put her team up 20, then flexed her muscles (she’s been in the weight room, ya know) and unleashed a primal scream toward the Sun bench.
“I love this game and I’m going to give it everything I have, so I think that’s what competitors do,” Clark said. “You just step right back up to the challenge.”
Wilson might be the W’s MVP, but Clark is the crossover celebrity. If officiating ever allows her to get injured, then the scariest place on Earth just might be among the casuals rioting outside the league office. But it shouldn’t take unbridled anger to awaken the WNBA. The league has a problem, and it better fix it before the whole product turns foul.
That’s a problem. For the people who love the WNBA, the players who better have great health insurance just to work in this league, and for the league itself. Because the truth is, the basketball here is evolving, but the inadequate officiating is not.
That was evident during the skirmishes between Sun veteran Marina Mabrey and the Fever’s Caitlin Clark, which were followed by a late-game fight between Fever guard Sophie Cunningham and the Sun’s Jacy Sheldon. Before all that, the referees swallowed their whistles too many times, missed too many shoves. As a result, Fever Coach Stephanie White delivered some blows of her own. On the night her team became the Eastern Conference representative in the Commissioner’s Cup final with an 88-71 win over the Sun, White let loose on officiating that’s harming the game.
ADVERTISING
“Players are faster, they’re better, they’re bigger, they’re stronger,” White said. “Things are happening quickly. Everybody’s getting better, except the officials.”
Skip to end of carousel
The Sports Moment newsletter
End of carousel
If the officiating crew had been paying attention, this game was boiling from the beginning. Clark had been fending off Sun defenders, either Sheldon or Saniya Rivers, who at times checked her over the length of the court. Clark — who finishes her pregame routine by absorbing and playing through contact from a male Fever staffer — would swat their arms away and move to her spots effortlessly. She has no problem giving the physicality right back, which she did before the midway point of the third quarter, throwing a two-handed shove into Sheldon. The refs missed that one.
🏈
Follow Sports
Clark and Sheldon would meet again. Clark was dribbling with her back to the defender, trying to work the offense, with Sheldon pushing and holding her ground. When Clark turned, Sheldon’s hands moved from the lower body to higher up, catching Clark in the face. She instinctively grabbed her eye, and just as instinctively pushed Sheldon away. That’s when Mabrey and Tina Charles responded. Both rushed in, but Mabrey got there first, ramming into Clark.
Soon, the locals were booing and the trolls were steaming. For pushing down this city’s darling, Mabrey will never get the hookup at St. Elmo’s again. And for savagely ambushing the league’s sweetheart (at least in the eyes of the casuals), Mabrey will now receive the Chennedy Carter treatment across social media.
The refs could have taken the game back by deeming Mabrey’s contact unnecessary and excessive — an immediate ejection. Instead, the officiating crew huddled for far too long to review the play — an animated Clark could be seen twirling her hands as if to tell the refs to hurry up — before deciding that Mabrey’s actions merely warranted a technical.
A harsher punishment might have served as a warning for everyone to chill out. Instead, a growing rage mushroomed past the point of control.
“When the officials don’t get control of the ballgame, when they allow stuff to happen, and it’s been happening all season long … this is what happens,” White said. “You’ve got competitive women, who are the best in the world at what they do, right? And when you allow them to play physical, and you allow these things to happen, they’re going to compete.”
White had been sounding an alarm for weeks about “disrespectful” officiating. Tuesday night, there was no bias. Just blindness. How could the officiating trio not have noticed the clashes around the perimeter? The extra stuff happening inside? Or be aware of the potential for bitterness between Mabrey, a fierce competitor and a holdover from the Sun team that eliminated the Fever last year in the playoffs, and Clark, who had her rookie season run-ins with Connecticut?
It seems the refs still haven’t learned that it takes more than a long review — and a decision to essentially play on — to supervise the most physical basketball league in our land.
There are a few places on Earth I would never want to find myself alone: a dark alley around Adams Morgan (the rats are more frightening than a mugger), the comments section of a review that doesn’t gush over the Cowboy Carter Tour, and the paint in a WNBA arena. Throughout this game — just like any game in the W, on any given night — the paint was no place for punks. In the first half, Indiana guard Kelsey Mitchell got yanked down from behind. Later, another Fever guard, Lexie Hull, took a blow to her chin, and somehow she was called for the foul.
And inside this amphitheater of agony, three players collided late in the game, all crashing to the floor, Cunningham being one of them.
Cunningham was lionized on social media for standing up for Clark, but she had her own grievances, motivating her for some good ol’ fashioned get-back. So defending Clark probably wasn’t top of mind as she chased down Sheldon, grabbed her shoulders, threw her down and incited a fight.
Not one of those “hold-me-back” NBA play fights, either. Hands thrown, grappling moves activated and bystanders on the baseline skittering out of the way.
The paint in the WNBA is a physical and violent and often unsafe place. It’s high time these refs learned how to officiate it.
Not just for Clark’s benefit, either. Across the league, the demand for improved officiating is growing. Last month, Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner pulled away from a live interview when she noticed two officials exiting the floor. Incensed about the lack of foul calls, Griner offered some unsolicited advice: “Be f------ better!”
After a game against the Los Angeles Sparks last week, Las Vegas Aces Coach Becky Hammon rested her face on her left hand and spoke flatly while telling reporters how three-time MVP A’ja Wilson “got elbowed … [and] was bleeding.” No foul was called, but Wilson has missed three games while in concussion protocol. Hammon, who led the Aces to back-to-back titles in 2022 and 2023, scrapped diplomacy this week after rookie Aaliyah Nye also took a hit to the face.
“I think it’s something that people really have to start looking at because, people are dropping like flies with concussions. And it’s not just our team,” Hammon said, referencing the head injuries suffered by star rookie Paige Bueckers and the Washington Mystics’ Shakira Austin. “There’s been too many shots to the face. … This is a physical game. I don’t think anyone’s trying to hurt anybody; however, there are some vicious ones.”
Back in Indiana, where Mabrey may need to use a pseudonym the next time she books a hotel room, Clark wasn’t about to let the fire die down. Before leaving the game with 3:48 remaining, Clark hit a three that put her team up 20, then flexed her muscles (she’s been in the weight room, ya know) and unleashed a primal scream toward the Sun bench.
“I love this game and I’m going to give it everything I have, so I think that’s what competitors do,” Clark said. “You just step right back up to the challenge.”
Wilson might be the W’s MVP, but Clark is the crossover celebrity. If officiating ever allows her to get injured, then the scariest place on Earth just might be among the casuals rioting outside the league office. But it shouldn’t take unbridled anger to awaken the WNBA. The league has a problem, and it better fix it before the whole product turns foul.
