Caitlin Clark and the officials have become the biggest talking points of the WNBA this offseason. The Indiana Fever star has fallen victim to some pretty bad calls from the officials, and head coach Stephanie White has also been outspoken about the fact.
There is a growing debate over whether Clark is being treated differently by officials after repeated controversial no-calls, and the Fever star has publicly criticized officiating.
On Friday’s Dan Patrick Show, the host had some questions after players and former players had been supporting the argument that Clark is maybe being refereed differently. The best way to resolve this would be to hold a press conference, Patrick said.
Patrick put WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert on the spot, asking her to come up with answers on this.
“That’s unfortunate because that’s what I want to know now,” Patrick added. “What are you doing, WNBA? Cathy Engelbert needs to talk to somebody. If she doesn’t want to talk to me, talk to somebody so we can at least get a face attached to this that can give us the reasoning here. What’s the logic here? Because something’s there. I don’t think anybody can sit here and say there’s nothing to see here.”
In his explanation, Patrick also compared the playing style of Golden State Warriors point guard Steph Curry and Clark. Both are similar in terms of status and position, yet Curry was never viewed as being officiated differently.
Patrick also asks Engelbert to do better as WNBA Commissioner by citing examples of how NBA and MLB Commissioners come out knowing what they are going to be asked.
NBA Commissioner Calls Caitlin Clark “Political Football”
The debate on Caitlin Clark’s treatment in the WNBA reached NBA Commissioner Adam Silver as well, and he had a pretty strong take on it.
On Thursday, Silver said Clark has become a “political football” and added that WNBA officiating is not the reason why he said so.
“Ultimately, the issues around Caitlin Clark are not largely about officiating and that particular incident is not about whether a foul should have been called at the time in the game or whether that was ultimately a flagrant on review,” Silver told Andrew Ross Sorkin at the Game Plan Summit.
“I have come to know Caitlin really well. She’s an incredible player and also an incredible person. And she wants to focus on being the best player she can. She has become a bit of a political football in this country, and I think it’s incredibly unfair to her. I don’t think that issue is ultimately about officiating. It’s become political ping-pong with her. And she’s a young woman who’s trying to improve her game.”
The latest officiating controversy erupted after Clark and Alyssa Thomas were engaged in a play on June 24. Clark hoped for a foul after falling down, but the referee told her that she initiated the contact. There have been several instances like this during the season, and that’s why there is so much noise around it.
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