WNBA deserves blame for All-Star's inevitable injury

[Jilly_in_VA]

Maybe now the WNBA will listen.

For years, players and coaches have been warning that the physicality of the game has gotten out of hand. That the officiating has not kept pace with the size, strength and pace of the WNBA game, and it’s taking a toll on both the players and the product. If the league didn’t step in, if it continued to settle for sub-par officiating, somebody was going to get hurt.

Well, now somebody has. And not just anybody. One of the biggest names in the game. In one of the biggest games of the season.

Napheesa Collier, runner-up for MVP each of the last two seasons, “probably has a fracture” after a collision with Alyssa Thomas late in the demolition derby, err, Game 3 between the Minnesota Lynx and the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night. A series that was already chippy went off the rails, with Collier leaving the floor limping and in tears, and coach Cheryl Reeve having to be held back by her assistants and guard Natisha Hiedeman before being ejected.

“If this is what our league wants, OK. But I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating,” Reeve said after the game, her fury palpable.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/columnist/nancy-armour/2025/09/27/napheesa-colliers-injury-was-inevitable-preventable-thats-on-wnba/86387525007/?tbref=hp

For real. The WNBA officials are worse than the ones we get in the Sun Belt, which is definitely second tier in D-I. Step it up, WNBA!!!

[RandySF]

1. Yep

I saw Sophie Cunningham snack Paige Bueckers in the mouth and give her a bloody lip. No call.

[Mosby]

2. I wasn't a foul though

It was incidental contact after the steal.

The officiating in the wnba is horrific, but that particular play is not a good example.

[AZProgressive]

3. The Mercury are a much stronger team than the rest of the WNBA

Alyssa Thomas, Sabally, and others are both physically strong players and are tough.

I don't want to see the entire WNBA change to be able to deal with a team like the Mercury. Also it was a clean steal, Collier was going to bump into Thomas intentionally but Thomas moved out of the way to steal the ball.

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. It doesn't matter

Reeve's point, and it has been made by other coaches, Stephanie White in particular, is that the officiating in the WNBA is HORRIBLE. The refs deliberately look the other way when a player makes a hard foul on another, particularly if it's a well-known and well-liked player who's fouled, and particularly if it's a team that's not doing so well.

Reeve got suspended because "you're not allowed to criticize the refs publicly", which I also think is wrong. I think it's wrong in the NCAA, too, especially when calls are egregiously bad, or if a payer is continually bullied the way Caitlin Clark has been.

[AZProgressive]

6. The Minnesota coach seemed to have lost it

after she knew she was going to lose the game after the steal & basket from Alyssa Thomas. Collier appeared to have aggravated an earlier ankle injury she had in August or early September.

In game 4 it appears Minnesota was the more physical team especially in the 1st quarter but the Mercury rallied back to tie the game at halftime. I remember in the 1st quarter Minnesota set a good legal screen on Alyssa Thomas that knocked her down. Other teams can try to bully Alyssa Thomas but it is not going to work because she is probably the strongest player in the league.

I don't see anything obviously bad as far as officiating and basketball can be a hard sport to officiate I was an intramural referee over 20 years ago and it is hard to see plays like who knocked it out when it was 50/50.

This link has a good picture of the play: https://www.si.com/wnba/lynx/news/lynx-make-big-napheesa-collier-decision-for-game-4-vs-mercury Collier actually initiated the contact by holding Thomas to prevent her from stealing the ball.

[FuzzyRabbit]

5. I've watched every Seattle Storm game since 2017. Every single game, every play.

And a few other teams' games, including the one in 2019 where Brittney Griner chased a player who fouled her and wouldn't let go of her arm. The result of that temper tantrum by Griner was that the refs started calling fouls that previously they had not called, and then player injuries were drastically reduced the rest of the season.

The officiating this year has been worse. No calls on obvious fouls and calls on barely fouls, incredibly inconsistent. Players get knocked down or poked in the eye all the time due to "incidental contact".

One Storm player (Gabby Williams) in one game was fouled on every drive to the basket, yet none were called until the end of the game after the coach (politely) complained to the refs. In another game, both teams players held onto the ball for two seconds with no jump ball call until Skylar Diggins yelled into the face of the closest ref.

Let's not forget the time outs not called in a timely manner by the refs, and the time outs they call when no one on either team calls for one. It happened today in the Indiana - Las Vegas game.

Since most coaches and so many players are unhappy with the refs, it is pretty clear that the W needs better refs.