{"id":115531,"date":"2025-08-03T12:05:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-03T12:05:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/115531\/"},"modified":"2025-08-03T12:05:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-03T12:05:12","slug":"wnba-players-call-out-officiating-but-league-trusts-its-process","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/115531\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA players call out officiating, but league trusts its process"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With red welts scattered like landmarks of the war she\u2019d just waged, Kelsey Plum<\/a> let the microphone have it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI drive more than anyone in the league,\u201d the Sparks guard said, voice taut. \u201cSo to shoot six free throws is f\u2014 absurd. And I got scratches on my face, I got scratches on my body, and these guards on the other teams get these ticky-tack fouls, and I\u2019m sick of it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Plum played 41 minutes during an overtime loss to the Golden State Valkyries, during which she was awarded those six free throws. She is one of many WNBA players, coaches and fans who have vented frustration over what they see as inconsistent and unreliable officiating this season. <\/p>\n

Yet, within the walls of the league\u2019s officiating office, there is steadfast belief that referees are doing their jobs well. <\/p>\n

\"Las <\/p>\n

Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon questions a referee\u2019s call during the game against the Sparks at Crypto.com Arena on July 29.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, I\u2019m very pleased with the work this year,\u201d said Monty McCutchen, the head of referee training and development for all NBA leagues.<\/p>\n

But McCutchen and Sue Blauch, who oversees WNBA referee performance and development, aren\u2019t blind to the backlash \u2014 acknowledging \u201csome high-profile misses that we need to own on our end.\u201d<\/p>\n

To do so, they pointed to an officiating analysis program through which 95% of games are watched live, with every play graded by internal and independent reviewers. Those evaluations are used to chart each referee\u2019s performance over time.<\/p>\n

Teams can flag up to 30 plays for review per game through a league portal \u2014 including isolated calls or themes spanning multiple games. League officials respond with rulings on each clip and compile curated playlists by call type, delivering them directly to the referees.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no shortage of feedback,\u201d McCutchen said. <\/p>\n

But the WNBA\u2019s structural backbone of officiating differs from the NBA in significant ways. With just 35 referees, all of whom moonlight calling NCAA or G League games, the WNBA relies on part-timers earning $1,538 per game as rookies<\/a>, with each official calling 20 to 34 contests per season.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re working three very different kinds of basketball,\u201d said Jacob Tingle, director of sport management at Trinity University who has conducted research on officiating networks and pathways. \u201cThe reason the NBA or MLB works is because that\u2019s all you do \u2014 you\u2019re working the same kind of game only.\u201d<\/p>\n

The WNBA lacks a centralized replay center, a developmental league to groom talent and shuffles crew combinations from game to game \u2014 a patchwork system that can strain referees expected to deliver consistency.<\/p>\n

\"Sparks <\/p>\n

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum questions the official\u2019s out-of-bounds call during a game against the Las Vegas Aces at Crypto.com Arena on July 29.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you don\u2019t have group cohesion, you don\u2019t have the same level of trust in your partners,\u201d said David Hancock, a professor who studies the psychology of sports officiating. \u201cWe\u2019ve done one study \u2014 when referees felt more connected to their group, they also felt they performed better.\u201d<\/p>\n

McCutchen said teams get a verdict on the calls they send for review. But beyond that, there\u2019s no insight into grading or transparency about patterns the league has researched. So when it seems a whistle has been swallowed during a game, players and coaches are left searching for consistency.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know in the WNBA anymore,\u201d said Joshua Jackson, a Louisiana State University professor who studies media and athlete perception. \u201cI can\u2019t tell when I\u2019m watching a game exactly what this foul call is going to be. I\u2019ll hear the whistle and think, \u2018OK, maybe it\u2019s a reach-in and then suddenly it\u2019s a view for a flagrant one instead? Wait, how did we get here?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The whistle has become one of the WNBA\u2019s biggest wild cards. Angel Reese called it \u201cdiabolical.\u201d Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said after a fourth-quarter letdown led to a loss that the game was \u201cstolen from us.\u201d Belgian guard Julie Allemand told The Times she felt more \u201cprotected\u201d playing in EuroBasket. And Napheesa Collier, one of the stars of the 2025 season, warned \u201cit\u2019s getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The whistle, or lack thereof, might echo louder in 2026, when the WNBA begins a $2.2-billion, 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal \u2014 each of whom will air more than 125 games a year across TV and streaming networks. <\/p>\n

Nicole LaVoi, who helms the Tucker Center \u2014 a research hub focused on advocating for girls and women in sports \u2014 said the narrative surrounding female athletes forces them to walk a tightrope: speak up and risk being dismissed as an emotional woman or stay quiet and let the league\u2019s image unravel.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a broader, contextual, systemic issue,\u201d LaVoi said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just about bad refs making bad calls. This is a much larger problem within a system where women\u2019s sport has been undervalued and underappreciated for decades.\u201d<\/p>\n

Many players have ignored concerns about the perception they whine too much about officiating, arguing the inconsistency in calls is dangerous.<\/p>\n

Lucas Seehafer, a professor and kinesiologist at Medical University of South Carolina who tracks WNBA injuries, said players have suffered 173 injuries this season<\/a> and missed 789 games, entering Saturday\u2019s games.<\/p>\n

\"Sparks <\/p>\n

Sparks forward Cameron Brink reacts toward an official after no foul was called after the ball was stripped from her as she was driving to the basket at Crypto.com Arena on July 29.<\/p>\n

(Gina Ferazzi \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n

Injuries are undoubtedly multifactorial, Seehafer said. Still, inconsistent whistles can leave players unsure of how much contact to expect \u2014 forcing them into unfamiliar movements or hesitation. And that can lend itself to awkward landings, a key contributor in lower-extremity injuries.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe athletes strive on consistency and mechanical efficiency,\u201d said Nirav Pandya, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine specialist at UC San Francisco. \u201cWhen you don\u2019t know how much contact\u2019s going to be allowed, it does throw off that rhythm, which increases your injury risk.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Caitlin Clark suffered a groin injury in mid-July, her brother \u2014 in a now-deleted X post \u2014 blamed the officials for letting too much contact slide.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople go watch the WNBA because of the talent,\u201d LaVoi said, \u201cand when the talent is sitting on the bench, that\u2019s not very exciting to fans.\u201d<\/p>\n

While critics are quick to call out officiating, referees are navigating a structure stretched thin. <\/p>\n

Brenda Hilton, founder of Officially Human \u2014 an organization dedicated to improving the treatment of sports officials \u2014 said 70%-80% of officials quit within their first three years, largely due to online abuse.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people that are doing the work are people, they are fallible,\u201d LaVoi said. \u201cThe players are fallible as well, so are the coaches. So can we get back some compassion for the humanity of the people doing it, and appreciate the fact that they love what they do? They\u2019re not doing it because they\u2019re getting huge NIL deals and branding opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n

NBA and WNBA officiating leaders have not announced any plans for changes to their system, so the stress will probably continue among players, coaches, fans and those who control the whistles.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With red welts scattered like landmarks of the war she\u2019d just waged, Kelsey Plum let the microphone have…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":115532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[1582,276,13136,4160,1910,2961,2968,72504,224,5337,72507,72505,72508,72510,9323,72503,5950,72506,232,72509],"class_list":{"0":"post-115531","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-california","10":"tag-call","11":"tag-coach","12":"tag-game","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-league","15":"tag-league-official","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-losangeles","18":"tag-monty-mccutchen","19":"tag-nba-league","20":"tag-nicole-lavoi","21":"tag-patchwork-system","22":"tag-player","23":"tag-referee","24":"tag-season","25":"tag-whistle","26":"tag-wnba","27":"tag-wnba-player"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114964747079820352","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}