WNBA referees criticized again, this time by Las Vegas Aces coach after loss to Washington Mystics

Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images

Becky Hammon called the officiating “awful” after the game. Before the Aces lost to the Mystics, she compared current play in the WNBA to rugby.

FAIRFAX, Va. — Becky Hammon knows what’s coming her way.

After she wrapped up her postgame press conference in a dark room in the bowels of George Mason University’s EagleBank Arena, the head coach of the Las Vegas Aces got up from the table, began walking toward the door and said, “Tell me how much my fine is.”

Following a 70-68 loss in front of a sold-out crowd to the Washington Mystics — the third defeat in four games for the Aces — Hammon was extremely critical of the WNBA’s officiating.

“I didn’t have enough challenges tonight. I thought the officiating was awful,” Hammon said after the loss, unprompted, after answering a question about the Aces’ defense. “Jackie Young got fouled at 33 seconds (left) on that layup — no call.”

Rules in the WNBA stipulate that a coach can challenge a call made by a referee once per game. If that challenge is successful upon review, the coach is awarded a second challenge to use later. Against the Mystics, Hammon challenged two calls and won both of them.

“I would have challenged seven more calls, and won them,” Hammon said. “I have no idea what that was. Awful.”

Still, Hammon’s criticisms of the referees don’t change the fact that the Aces blew a 15-point lead, shot 12 percent from 3-point land, had a negative assist-turnover ratio, and were outscored 12-2 in the final 3:16 of the game.

“Our defense was probably similarly awful though,” Hammon conceded. “In the third quarter, we didn’t come out and set the right tone. I thought the third quarter was kind of where we lost momentum.”

To Hammon’s point about what was in her opinion a no-call on Young with 33 seconds to play, it was one of many chaotic events in the game’s waning moments. After Shakira Austin connected on a put-back that turned out to be the game-clinching bucket, Young missed that layup and then Chelsea Gray missed a pull-up jumper just 13 seconds later. Gray rebounded her own miss, but then turned the ball over with five seconds remaining.

As Gray’s misplaced pass rolled out of bounds, Hammon seemed to be calling for a timeout and one official initially awarded it to her. After a quick conference between the three referees — and after Mystics’ coach Sydney Johnson went berserk on the sideline — the ball was given to Washington. Brittney Sykes then made one-of-two shots from the free throw to increase the Mystics’ lead and Young missed what would have been the game-tying layup with 1.2 seconds left.

“I had a reset left, and you can’t reset when the ball’s in the frontcourt,” Hammon said when asked if the referees gave her an explanation of what transpired in that moment.

Referees for this game were Michael Price, Blanca Burns and Gina Cross.

Hammon had some harsh comments about the WNBA’s officiating before the game too.

“I think the physicality is out of control. I think the freedom of movement is a joke. There is no freedom of movement,” Hammon said. “You get grabbed and held every time you run a route, you get grabbed and held every time you set a screen and you try to roll. It’s not basketball, it’s rugby. That’s why the scoring isn’t as good as what it was in the past.”

Entering Thursday night, teams in the WNBA were averaging 81.4 points per game. That’s only down slightly from the highest scoring average the league has ever had — 83.1 points per game in 2020.

However, Hammon is the latest in a growing line of players, coaches and influential voices around the WNBA lobbing critiques at its officiating. Chicago Sky star Angel Reese said just a few days ago, “It has to be fixed… I am tired of this shit.”

Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White and Los Angeles Sparks guard Kelsey Plum have been vocal critics of WNBA referees this season too.

Johnson was asked about the WNBA’s officiating before the game too, but gave a much more empathetic answer.

“It’s one of the toughest jobs in the world, in sports, officiating basketball games. So, there’s massive amounts of grace that I want to give from start to finish,” the first-year Mystics coach said. “You know, my big thing is communication, just feeling like we’re on the same team, and then consistency.”

The Aces have now lost four of their last seven games and played this one without reigning MVP A’Ja Wilson, who is dealing with a sprain on her right wrist. Wilson warmed up before the game and also signed autographs for fans, but Hammon said there’s no timetable for her return.

Las Vegas could’ve used Wilson’s presence against Washington. The Mystics outscored the Aces 44-38 in the paint and won the rebounding battle 35-31. Without Wilson, Austin had 16 points and eight rebounds against a rotation of Aces’ bigs. Leading Las Vegas in the loss was Jewell Loyd with 20 points.

Three things remain uncertain with the Aces: How long this losing slide lasts, how long Wilson remains sidelined, and how big of a fine Hammon receives from the league office.