No one comes to watch the referees. But in the WNBA, they’re the story | Bryan Armen Graham

As the WNBA finals tip off on Friday amid another year of explosive growth, inconsistent refereeing fueled by systemic shortcomings threatens to hijack the occasion

The WNBA has never been more visible. The best-of-seven-games finals between the Phoenix Mercury and Las Vegas Aces will tip off Friday night before what are expected to be the largest TV audiences that women's basketball has ever drawn. Crowds have swelled, viewership milestones have toppled, franchise valuations are soaring and formerly niche stars have broken into the mainstream. Yet as the league celebrates a second straight year of explosive growth, an old and thorny problem has risen to the surface: officiating.

Complaints about referees have always been louder and more persistent in professional basketball relative to other sports due to the subjectivity of calls and sheer number of decisions. But in the WNBA's 2025 season, the volume and intensity of the criticism from all sides have reached new heights. Coaches have been ejected and suspended. Star players have vented in press conferences and online. Fans have dissected blown calls with Zapruder-film rigor on social media. What had long been background noise and the province of hoop wonks became the defining subplot of the season, colliding awkwardly with the league's ongoing surge into the spotlight.