The WNBA “finds itself mired in a controversy about its officiating,” and frustrations and controversies are “never more scrutinized or hotly debated than when they concern” Fever G Caitlin Clark, according to Emma Baccellieri of SI. The Mercury and Fever on Monday played a “chippy game” that ended with six technical fouls. When the teams rematched on Wednesday, Clark “left the floor during the third quarter with a back injury and did not return.” Baccellieri noted there were two plays before halftime that “seemed to play a role.” During a scramble on the floor, Mercury F Alyssa Thomas was “seen pressing her fist into Clark’s throat” and there was “no call.” Clark later took a three and was closed out on by Phoenix F Valeriane Ayayi. There was a “whistle followed by an on-site review of the play” and the foul “was not upgraded to a reckless closeout.” Fever coach Stephanie White said, “We have a generational talent and WNBA superstar who had two cheap shots right there that weren’t called, and I just say again, absolutely unacceptable.” Baccellieri wrote it is “about calling games evenly and fairly” more than protecting Clark or showing “gratitude” for her impact. The last few years have seen these refereeing controversies “repeatedly grow big enough to block out every other conversation and storyline in the league.” Baccellieri: “The WNBA should be past that” (SI, 6/25).
ACHILLES HEEL: YAHOO SPORTS’ Cassandra Negley wrote it is “inarguable that Clark drew a new fanbase to the WNBA.” Negley: “Every single one of those new fans -- in addition to the fans who have held this league so close to their hearts through the tough times -- began watching for a reason. And if their reason is a person, they want that human being treated well. But it doesn’t matter whose name is on the back of her jersey, generational talent or end-of-the-bench warmer. It’s clear officiating is still the league’s great Achilles heel” (YAHOO SPORTS, 6/25).
HEAVY IS THE HEAD: In Indianapolis, Gregg Doyel wrote Clark is “being asked to do the heaviest lifting in professional sports.” Doyel: “Since Tiger Woods turned pro on the PGA Tour in 1996, has any one athlete propped up a league as much as Caitlin Clark has propped up the WNBA?” The WNBA was “rolling along for 27 years, making its way slowly in this world, until Clark arrived and attached a rocket booster to the game.” She is not the “only reason for the rise of the WNBA,” but she is “the catalyst.” It “turns ugly when people who should know better refuse to admit that nobody else in the WNBA, individually, has done for the league what Clark has done since 2024.” The “disconnect between who Clark is, and how she’s treated by her own league, is wild” (INDIANAPOLIS STAR, 6/25).
AT THE TOP: USA TODAY’s Christine Brennan wrote Clark is “getting pummeled on a regular basis” and WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has “done precious little about it.” Engelbert’s “history in the WNBA’s Clark era has been to disappear when she should rise” and she has “avoided when she should engage.” Brennan: “What is especially aggravating about Engelbert’s inability to give Clark her due and keep her safe when the league desperately needs her presence for its financial future is all the possibilities the WNBA is squandering by refusing to fully embrace Clark’s superstardom” (USA TODAY, 6/25).
