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WNBA Referees Under Fire for Controversial Decisions in Fever-Dream

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kevin Borba | Last updated May 20, 2025 9:22 PM ET

After a huge win against the Chicago Sky in their regular season debut, Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever welcomed the Atlanta Dream to the Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Tuesday.

Unlike Saturday, when the Fever took quick control of the game, they trailed by as many as 11 points in the first half and struggled to find a rhythm. Although they made 50% of their shots in the first half compared to the Dream's 42.9%, the officiating throughout the opening two quarters was quite disruptive.

In total, there were 17 fouls called along with three coaches' challenges. Of those challenges, a couple of them took so long that the broadcast's analyst, Debbie Antonelli, expressed a desire for the league to implement a rule to shorten review times.

While there were 17 fouls called, the officials also seemed to miss a handful of obvious ones, with the most glaring being a play in which Atlanta's Nia Coffey dove into the legs of Indiana's DeWanna Bonner while chasing after a loose ball.

This is a dangerous foul against DeWanna Bonner. She's lucky she escaped with no injury. It seems Atlanta is going to play this game very physical. #WNBA #FeverRising pic.twitter.com/yGOvA53Ger
— Cro (@The_Cro_Show) May 20, 2025

With so many missed calls, whistles blown when they may not have been necessary and excessively long reviews, fans and analysts alike took to social media to express their displeasure with Tuesday night's crew.

"refs in this dream/fever game are atrocious," wrote one fan.

"fever 2/2 on challenges in the first half. with all this new money coming into the league can we do some ref training or what," questioned another.

"3 successful challenges in the first half of fever-dream. are the refs okay," asked a third.

"This officiating crew has been bad. Bonner and Clark are furious. Fever coach Steph White having to use a second challenge already because they've messed up another out-of-bounds call," added Fever beat writer Scott Agness.

"Fever is just never gonna be a team with a good whistle. The refs might as well be blindfolded for as horrific as they are," commented another fan.

Although finding fans who love the officiating of any sport would be a tough task, the fact that Antonelli was so vocal about how poor they had been may have been a glaring indicator that it's not just the fans who are upset.

Heading into the half, the Fever were able to cut the lead to 44-42, with Clark seemingly on pace for her second triple-double in a row with 16 points, seven assists and five boards in the first half.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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