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By Megan Armstrong
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The WNBA formed a new officiating task force, including coaches and players, to "clean up some of the league's growing concerns around physicality," as the Associated Press wrote last week.
The Athletic's Annie Costabile additionally reported that the task force "met multiple times this offseason and has plans to continue meeting" about their points of emphasis throughout the 2026 WNBA season, which tipped off May 8.
Over the first 12 days, most of the league's coaches and players have voiced their frustrations about the uptick in foul calls. For reference, there were 72 combined free-throw attempts between the Los Angeles Sparks and Toronto Tempo on Sunday.
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Last weekend, Chicago Sky veteran guard Natasha Cloud went scorched earth on three officials for failing to control the game in which Sky forward Rickea Jackson tore her ACL against the Minnesota Lynx. During opening weekend, New York Liberty All-Star and two-time WNBA MVP Breanna Stewart lamented how the incessant whistle "disrupts everyone's flow."
Indiana Fever All-Star guard Caitlin Clark has been the rare vocal supporter of the refs so far this season, and she went into further detail in an episode of "Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston" that dropped on Wednesday.
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Parker, a soon-to-be Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductee, asked Boston and Clark how teams are guarding them this season. Both Fever All-Stars said defenders are physical with them.
"Physicality, I feel like that's always what I'm met with," Clark, the 2024 No. 1 overall pick, said. "Obviously, being a little bit on the slimmer side and the shorter side, I feel like that's probably what people do the most. I get picked up full court. They're gonna be physical coming off of screens. They're gonna be into me on the ball screen."
Clark continued:
"So, I'm excited that freedom of movement is a point of emphasis. I appreciate that. And not that it needs to be excessive. Like, I understand that's still part of the game. But I do think it kind of began to start to cross a certain line, so excited about that. I know that was really important for the coaches over the offseason. They wanted it cleaned up. I think, more than anything, it's gonna make the product of the game a lot better, too."
The Fever are 2-2 entering the matchup with the Portland Fire (2-2) at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on Wednesday night. Clark is averaging 24.3 points, 9.0 assists, 5.0 rebounds, and 1.0 steals.
Watch the full "Post Moves" episode below.
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