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BALTIMORE — The WNBA has fined Stephanie White an undisclosed amount, presumably for her comments regarding the officiating following the Indiana Fever’s 90-88 loss to the New York Liberty on Saturday.
She joked Wednesday after being asked about the officiating in the Fever’s 83-77 loss to the Washington Mystics about incurring another fine.
“Do you want me to get fined again?” she said. “Because I did just get fined.”
White used the first question of her news conference Saturday, pertaining to a no-call on New York’s Natasha Cloud as she guarded Caitlin Clark on the final possession, to voice her displeasure with a series of calls in the final minute — and over the Fever’s past few games.
“I thought (Clark) got fouled,” White said.
“I think it’s pretty egregious what’s been happening to us these last few games,” she continued. “A minus-31 free throw discrepancy (over three games) — I might be able to understand that if we’re chucking 3s, but we’re not. We’re attacking the rim. The disrespect right now for our team has been pretty unbelievable. It’s disappointing that it doesn’t go both ways, but we can’t allow that to consume us.”
The game’s final sequence was preceded by a couple other controversial officiating moments.
The first involved the Fever’s DeWanna Bonner, who was not awarded a foul when she went in for a layup against Cloud with 36 seconds left and the score tied at 88. Bonner’s shot was blocked, but Cloud’s arm extended through to Bonner’s face.
On the other end of the floor, Fever guard Lexie Hull fouled the Liberty’s Sabrina Ionescu — a call that White clearly disagreed with, voicing her displeasure to the referees.
White did not have any timeouts left and was unable to challenge the call. Ionescu converted both free throws, lifting the Liberty to the two-point win.
New York attempted 32 free throws Saturday compared to Indiana’s 15; Atlanta took 23 free throws to Indiana’s 15 on Thursday; and Atlanta took 32 compared to Indiana’s 26 on Tuesday.
“I thought it was egregious, honestly. I mean, I thought it was obvious,” White said. “You know, I felt like (Aliyah Boston) got (fouled), had one going to the rim. (Bonner’s non-call) was crazy. And in Lexie’s, I felt like, equally, you know, we talked about coming into the path. And it was an offensive player, varying into the defensive player’s path. So, I mean, it is what it is. We have to be able to play through it. But at the same time, I feel like it’s really disrespectful.”
The WNBA has a system, similar to that of the NBA, where coaches are able to submit plays to the league asking for clarification. It’s a system that exists in an attempt to bring clarity to coaches and officials, but White isn’t so sure of how effective it is.
“We can send stuff in and communicate our grievances, so to speak, but I don’t know that I ever feel like the system works,” White said. “We’re not looking for a change. We’re just looking for consistency. You know, I felt like the second half of Atlanta, at least at our place (on Tuesday), was at least consistent, right, and that’s that’s the thing that we’re looking for.”
