Caitlin Clark: A Black Light in a Hotel Room- Part 2

I am doing a lot of walking these days. Minnie and Nellie have Tractive devices on their collars to measure their activity. They are really pretty lazy laying around the house. So to help them reach their goals for the day, we do a lot of walking. And I do a LOT of listening to Podcasts. 

The line from “The Herd” that stuck with me- “Caitlin Clark is like a black light in a hotel room.” Indeed, Clark’s popularity has brought eyes to the WNBA which the WNBA thinks is great. The eyes on the WNBA has brought scrutiny to the WNBA which they don’t always want and they don’t always know how to handle. 

The WNBA like many businesses and many sports who are trying to “make it,” probably did a lot of things on the cheap side. Not anticipating how dramatic the increased income and increased attention was going to be- the WNBA is the hotel manager who didn’t know he needed to get the “Presidential Suite” a deep clean. The WNBA didn’t shine their own black light around the room, so it has been the media, the players, and the fans shining the black light to explore the WNBA room. 

I am not sure Caitlin Clark is actually the black light in the WNBA hotel room, rather I think because of Caitlin Clark’s popularity she has helped others pull out the black light. 

In Part 1, I focused on the issues of salary more than anything, and expressed pessimism that the WNBA will fairly deal with the issue without a lockout or strike first occurring. My focus in Part 2 is to look at the quality of games- in particular officiating and the rules. 

“Houston, We Have A Problem”

All of us know that one of the most popular things for basketball fans is to complain about the refs. I went to a HS game last year and at the start of the game, in middle of the game, and at the end of the game a mother sitting close kept saying, ”Those refs hate us, they won’t be fair.” So thinking refs are unfair is not unusual. 

When I say that the WNBA has a problem with refs, that is not what I am saying. I have seen nothing that indicates the refs or the league has a secret agenda for one team or another team to win. So my point is not that refs are unfair, they are bad. 

In case you start to think that I am just a rabid fan who is upset with my team losing, hear are some things to consider:

Rebecca Lobo on ABC national broadcast last week, describing a play where Caitlin Clark was driving, “There’s a grab: there’s a hold; there’s a grab. I mean all of those are fouls, every single one of them. That’s a foul, that’s a foul.” 

Sally Jenkins of the Washington Post wrote an article entitled,”WNBA Officiating Is No Longer an Annoyance, It’s a Threat to the Game.”  In her article, she suggested that the league might change its logo to a bruise and its motto to, “No Call.”

Jenkins went onto to report in the last 2.5 years in the WNBA there has been 57 head and neck injuries. There have been over 100 more injuries to backcourt players who in theory are not around the basket banging each other. 

A League For Grownup Women

The WNBA players have an unusual relationship with physicality in their league. While they brag about the WNBA being more physical and for grownup women as compared to college basketball, the WNBA players turn around and complain about no calls. 

Where this love/hate relationship with physicality comes from, I can only speculate. Perhaps it started as a way to separate the WNBA when it first started- we are different and better than college basketball. Perhaps it was to show the public that they were tough and not sissies. 

It was obvious as the 2025 season approached veterans of the WNBA wanted to make it clear that Clark and Reese were in for a different experience, “Our league is for grownup women.”

The mixed message from the players about physicality does not help the league and it certainly doesn’t help in figuring out the officiating mess. 

Not Just A WNBA Problem

Realize that bad officiating is not unique to the WNBA, it is just the WNBA is clearly THE worst officiated league in basketball. I have watched girls and boys games from JH to HS to Juco to College to Pro levels. I am not saying that there are not problems with officiating at the other levels, just not as many problems as the WNBA. If JH or HS games were as poorly officiated as the WNBA, there literally would be riots at games and schools would be cancelling games. Don’t misunderstand me, I am not saying JH or HS refs could step in and be better in a WNBA game.

Finding officials and finding good officials is becoming harder and harder on all levels of basketball, but a million dollar operation should not have the worst refs in America.

Just Let ‘em Play

When I hired college players to come back and officiate the Galesburg Summer League when I went over rules and started to explain to the young refs how I wanted them to officiate the game, I would always get a couple “tough” young men who would say, “I like to let ‘em play and not spend time shooting free throws.” 

My comment back, “I absolutely agree, I like to let them play. That means if they make a good shot fake and beat a defender but the defender holds them- call a foul. If a post player works to get an offensive rebound and is hitting taking it up- call a foul.” 

My point is that this “let ‘em play” philosophy seems common on all levels of play. And it is RUINING the game of basketball. Let talented players be able to drive, let talented shooters be able to get open for shots, let good defenders draw charges, and make post defenders have to more their feet to get defensive position- not arm wrestle. 

Years ago we were in a Christmas tourney and the refs were not calling anything. We actually played an entire game where neither team shot a free throw. I said to one of the refs later, why is it so different than during the regular season. The ref replied, “The directors of the tourney instructed not to call anything except a blatant foul because they want to keep the games running on time.”

Whether the WNBA organization or the players or the director of officials that is telling the refs how they want the game called- I know it is not a group of refs who have made this decision. 

Best Way To Defend- Just Get Physical

It seems a growing trend in basketball on all levels is to play “bully ball.” If the other team has more talent and more skill, try to go out and intimidate them by making it a PE class type of game. Get up and bump them, talk trash to them, and when you foul- foul hard. 

I had a ref tell me that they had done a HS girls game and the score was 29-25. He reported it was awful, neither team could score. I wasn’t at the game but I am betting the score was 29-25 because the same ref was not calling fouls. 

In the WNBA teams have decided the best way to defend Caitlin Clark (and other talented guards) is to bump them and be physical. The philosophy is to challenge the refs to make a call. 

Years ago Mike Hellenthal told me about his days as an assistant for Jerry Leggett at Quincy. Mike relayed that their philosophy early in the game was to challenge the refs to call fouls on them when they were in their ball press. He claimed he if they were called for 3-4 fouls early in the game, eventually the refs tended to quit calling them. 

Parents know that if they set up rules with their teenagers but don’t ever give a consequence, the teen is unlikely to follow the rules. The best way to prevent fouling is to call fouls. If it means each team shooting 30 free throws- call the fouls. Keep calling the fouls until the players and coaches change their style. 

You Get What You Pay For

NBA officials receive $250K as entry level refs, then $500k as veteran refs. NCAA men’s and women’s refs get $1k to $3k per game. WNBA refs get $180-$450 per game. 

The best WNBA seats are selling for $1000. 

Accountability, Accountability, Accountability 

In the NBA, each ref must watch their game immediately after the game is over. They must review calls and write a report analyzing their calls. The league office evaluates the officials each game also. The calls in the last two minutes are all evaluated and made public. 

I don’t know what the process for the evaluation of WNBA res is, but I am guessing for $180, they are not going thru this self-evaluation process and I doubt the league office evaluates them. 

The WNBA refs MUST be paid at a level so that they can be expected to be doing post game evaluations, conferences with their crews, and meeting with league supervisors. WNBA refs (all college and pro refs) must be graded by a their leagues. 

Obviously we could pick out a missed call in any game. A recent game of the Fever in which Aliyah Boston to a shot to the face and another play where Sophie Cunningham drove baseline and took a hockey check are just two examples of calls that we missed. My point would be that the WNBA must have a system in which the refs in that game were evaluated and graded. Whether they want to admit they missed a call or not, they need to be told by the league that they missed a call. 

“Somebody Is Going To Get Hurt”

All of us have been at a game where a fan or a coach has yelled this at a ref. The irony is that often at those games they are yelling it at a ref who just called a foul. In the WNBA it is true that someone may get hurt. 

Coach Stephanie White in talking about the contact, “It causes you to load differently. It causes you to explode differently. It causes you to accelerate and decelerate differently. It causes not just direct injuries but indirect injuries.”

Sally Jenkins in her Washington Post article said, “The refs are particularly guilty of letting star guards get mauled.”

The physicality in the league is having two impacts that are both horrible for the WNBA- 1) It is possible that is the cause of unnecessary injuries, 2) It is preventing the league from show casing some of their stars.

Change The Rules

College men’s and women’s, international men’s and women’s, and the WNBA all play 40 minute games. The NBA plays 48 minute games. The NBA has 6 fouls for a player disqualification. All of the levels that play 40 minute games have 5 fouls for a player disqualification- except the WNBA. 

A first step with rules would be to move the WNBA foul limit to 5 fouls. The down side could be that people pay to go see Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson, or Breanna Stewart, and they have to sit because they are in foul trouble. Hello- that is part of the game. 

Fouling is bad defense- quit fouling. 

If you don’t like the idea of the star fouling out. A suggestion might be that on a player’s 5th, 6th and all subsequent fouls the other team shoots the normal number of free throws plus one extra. So if a coach wants to keep a player with fouls in the game, they will have a penalty attached. The coach needs to make a decision. 

The All-Star Game Is Embarrassing 

Different topic but I can’t help myself. I realize the NBA has had All-Star games where teams have scored 180 points, the WNBA All-Star game was absolutely horrible. At 70+ years old with no defense being played if they inbounded the ball to me, I am guessing I could just shoot layups until my 70 year old heart got tired. 

The NFL finally dropped the All-Star game. The NBA All-Star game is unentertaining. MLB is ok with the pitcher and the hitter both trying. 

The WNBA and NBA All-Star games must be kept to make money off the TV contracts. And the celebrating the sport and the all-stars with voting is fun. 

The skill stuff with the Skill Contest and Three Point Shooting are good. I would suggest that they add the Shooting Star Competition that the NBA had and dropped. The format would be that a current WNBA player is paired with a retired WNBA player from her franchise and an NBA player from the same city. So you might have Los Angeles with Kelsey Plum, Candace Parker, and LeBron James. If healthy, Indiana could have had Caitlin Clark, Tamika Catching, and Tyrese Haliburton. That would be entertaining. 

For the All-Star game, I may be reverting to an idea that sounds too much like a failed baseball all-star game attempt to make it a serious game. 

While the WNBA is divided into East and West, East and West division only matter for the Commissioners Cup. They have no relevance to the final standings. My suggestion would be that they select the teams to have an East team and a West team. Whichever team wins, all the teams in that Division get a win. The team that loses, all the teams in that division get a loss. I am not excited about my idea but I now I won’t watch another All-Star game with the present format. 

If you missed it- here is Part 1–

Caitlin Clark: A Black Light in a Hotel Room- Part 1