WNBA players call out officiating, but league

With crimson welts scattered like landmarks of the struggle she’d just waged, Kelsey Plum let the microphone have it.

“I drive more than anyone in the league,” the Sparks guard mentioned, voice taut. “So to shoot six free throws is f— 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’m sick of it.”

Plum performed 41 minutes during an extra time loss to the Golden State Valkyries, during which she was awarded those six free throws. She is one of many WNBA players, coaches and followers who have vented frustration over what they see as inconsistent and unreliable officiating this season.

Yet, within the partitions of the league’s officiating workplace, there’s steadfast perception that referees are doing their jobs properly.

“Overall, I’m very pleased with the work this year,” mentioned Monty McCutchen, the top of referee coaching and development for all NBA leagues.

But McCutchen and Sue Blauch, who oversees WNBA referee efficiency and development, aren’t blind to the backlash — acknowledging “some high-profile misses that we need to own on our end.”

To do so, they pointed to an officiating evaluation program through which 95% of video games are watched dwell, with every play graded by inner and unbiased reviewers. Those evaluations are used to chart each referee’s efficiency over time.

Teams can flag up to 30 performs for review per recreation through a league portal — including remoted calls or themes spanning a number of video games. League officers reply with rulings on each clip and compile curated playlists by call sort, delivering them instantly to the referees.

“There’s no shortage of feedback,” McCutchen mentioned.

But the WNBA’s structural spine of officiating differs from the NBA in important methods. With just 35 referees, all of whom moonlight calling NCAA or G League video games, the WNBA depends on part-timers incomes $1,538 per recreation as rookies, with each official calling 20 to 34 contests per season.

“You’re working three very different kinds of basketball,” mentioned Jacob Tingle, director of sport management at Trinity University who has performed analysis on officiating networks and pathways. “The reason the NBA or MLB works is because that’s all you do — you’re working the same kind of game only.”

The WNBA lacks a centralized replay middle, a developmental league to groom expertise and shuffles crew combos from recreation to recreation — a patchwork system that can pressure referees anticipated to ship consistency.

Sparks guard Kelsey Plum questions the official’s out-of-bounds call during a recreation against the Las Vegas Aces at Crypto.com Arena on July 29.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

“When you don’t have group cohesion, you don’t have the same level of trust in your partners,” mentioned David Hancock, a professor who research the psychology of sports activities officiating. “We’ve done one study — when referees felt more connected to their group, they also felt they performed better.”

McCutchen mentioned groups get a verdict on the calls they ship for review. But past that, there’s no insight into grading or transparency about patterns the league has researched. So when it appears a whistle has been swallowed during a recreation, players and coaches are left looking for consistency.

“You don’t know in the WNBA anymore,” mentioned Joshua Jackson, a Louisiana State University professor who research media and athlete notion. “I can’t tell when I’m watching a game exactly what this foul call is going to be. I’ll hear the whistle and think, ‘OK, maybe it’s a reach-in and then suddenly it’s a view for a flagrant one instead? Wait, how did we get here?’”

The whistle has turn into one of the WNBA’s greatest wild playing cards. Angel Reese known as it “diabolical.” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve mentioned after a fourth-quarter letdown led to a loss that the sport was “stolen from us.” Belgian guard Julie Allemand informed The Times she felt more “protected” enjoying in EuroBasket. And Napheesa Collier, one of the celebrities of the 2025 season, warned “it’s getting worse.”

The whistle, or lack thereof, may echo louder in 2026, when the WNBA begins a $2.2-billion, 11-year media rights deal with Disney, Amazon and NBCUniversal — each of whom will air more than 125 video games a 12 months across TV and streaming networks.

Nicole LaVoi, who helms the Tucker Center — a analysis hub targeted on advocating for women and girls in sports activities — mentioned the narrative surrounding feminine athletes forces them to stroll a tightrope: communicate up and risk being dismissed as an emotional lady or keep quiet and let the league’s image unravel.

“This is a broader, contextual, systemic issue,” LaVoi mentioned. “It’s not just about bad refs making bad calls. This is a much larger problem within a system where women’s sport has been undervalued and underappreciated for decades.”

Many players have ignored considerations about the notion they whine an excessive amount of about officiating, arguing the inconsistency in calls is harmful.

Lucas Seehafer, a professor and kinesiologist at Medical University of South Carolina who tracks WNBA accidents, mentioned players have suffered 173 accidents this season and missed 789 video games, coming into Saturday’s video games.

Sparks ahead Cameron Brink reacts toward an official after no foul was known as after the ball was stripped from her as she was driving to the basket at Crypto.com Arena on July 29.

(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)

Injuries are undoubtedly multifactorial, Seehafer mentioned. Still, inconsistent whistles can go away players uncertain of how a lot contact to count on — forcing them into unfamiliar actions or hesitation. And that can lend itself to awkward landings, a key contributor in lower-extremity accidents.

“The athletes strive on consistency and mechanical efficiency,” mentioned Nirav Pandya, a pediatric orthopedic surgeon and sports activities drugs specialist at UC San Francisco. “When you don’t know how much contact’s going to be allowed, it does throw off that rhythm, which increases your injury risk.”

When Caitlin Clark suffered a groin damage in mid-July, her brother — in a now-deleted X post — blamed the officers for letting an excessive amount of contact slide.

“People go watch the WNBA because of the talent,” LaVoi mentioned, “and when the talent is sitting on the bench, that’s not very exciting to fans.”

While critics are fast to call out officiating, referees are navigating a construction stretched skinny.

Brenda Hilton, founder of Officially Human — an group devoted to enhancing the remedy of sports activities officers — mentioned 70%-80% of officers give up within their first three years, largely due to online abuse.

“The people that are doing the work are people, they are fallible,” LaVoi mentioned. “The 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’re not doing it because they’re getting huge NIL deals and branding opportunities.”

NBA and WNBA officiating leaders haven’t introduced any plans for adjustments to their system, so the stress will in all probability proceed among players, coaches, followers and those who control the whistles.