Even in a win, Stephanie White’s assessment traces back to the same old story: league officiating. The Indiana Fever clinched an 87-78 win over the LA Sparks on Wednesday at the Crypto.com Arena. But it was a few plays, including a first technical foul on Caitlin Clark, that prompted White to make her feelings about the officiating this season clear.
While Clark’s reaction against the call got more prominence, her teammate, Aliyah Boston, got fouled out of the game with just 4 points. And subsequently, it provided the exact launchpad for White’s fresh rant against officiating. Speaking at the press conference, White was asked about the reason behind Boston’s disappointing performance in Los Angeles.
In reply, White outright pointed her fingers towards the officiating. “I think it was foul trouble,” White said. “She didn’t get a chance, really. I think it’s hard to get a flow when you are getting called for all those quote-unquote fouls.”
The Fever head coach didn’t even just stop there. Moments later in the press conference, Clark was put in the center by a reporter and asked to comment on the comments about the league’s officiating. But White interrupted, emphasizing that she would answer the question herself.
“I think the reality is a lot of us spent a lot of time of the offseason in various committees trying to remedy this officiating thing,” White said. “And you know what we said was that we wanted everything called freedom of movement needs to be a thing. And it was not tonight, I think there’s going to be a calibration, of course, but this felt a lot like last year to me, and that’s not where we want to be. So, I just think, we’ve got to really demand consistency in what we’re calling.”
Now, Stephanie White’s frustration with officiating isn’t coming in isolation. The Fever’s head coach has consistently urged the league to oversee the quality of officiating last season. In fact, before the season tipoff, White clearly highlighted that she’s willing to wait to notice improvements, but hit back, stating that the coaches want the officials to be “accountable”.
But as White mentioned, despite these offseason discussions, a lot of it felt like how it turned out last year. White’s assessment of too many fouls also resembles Breanna Stewart’s assessment a few days back. “It disrupts everyone’s flow, not just my team, both sides of the game,” Stewart said.
The Indiana Fever-LA Sparks game was just another example of it. Both the Sparks and the Fever got 24 fouls each, with Clark and Monique Billings receiving a technical each.
CC’s play just occurred before halftime. Initially, she was called for an offensive foul, giving Sparks possession. But the Fever guard was not happy with the decision and went straight to official Jason Alabana, getting into a verbal exchange.
Alabanza immediately handed over a technical foul to Clark. Speaking in an on-court interview after the game, however, CC commented on the sequence, saying she deserved the punishment.
“The refs were calling it, and like I told you earlier today, I appreciate that, ” Clark said. “I think it’s going to even out. And I think the refs are doing a tremendous job. I deserve the technical they gave me, but I think it’s great for the game.”
Notably, with this technical, Caitlin Clark moved up her technical foul tally to 9. The Fever guard 6 of this chunk in her rookie season alone, when she escaped suspension by just 1 technical.
Moving back to the game against the LA Sparks, Caitlin Clark received 2 more personal fouls in the game. And although her episode with the technical foul ended in reconciliation, Clark, too, isn’t quite satisfied with the league’s officiating this season.
Caitlin Clark Raised a Sharp Take Against Officiating After the Dallas Wings Game
CC’s equation with officiating hasn’t been perennially good. Be it indulging in a verbal faceoff with the officials or getting fined by the league for her comments on officiating, Clark has been part of both. One of the recent occurrences occurred after Fever’s loss to the Dallas Wings in the regular-season opener.
Speaking after the game, the Fever guard didn’t shy away from pointing out that she feels that there were multiple calls that didn’t go in her favor in the game.
“I think, especially if they’re going to call it the way they’re going to call it this year,” she said. “I think I honestly could have probably got a couple more calls on a few of them, but that’s okay.”
These are definitely early signs of concern for the league. It’s even more grave, considering officiating issues were one of the major highlights of the offseason. WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert had even remarked that the league has formed committees to oversee the officiating quality.
Yet despite that, dissenting voices have arisen from coaches and players. But it’s still just the first week of the season. And for now, we’ll have to play the waiting game to see if players like Caitlin Clark get the quality of officiating that they are demanding.
