Karl Smesko launched a thoughtful defense of Angel Reese following the Atlanta Dream's 78-75 loss to the Golden State Valkyries Friday. Smesko told ESPN he believes Reese doesn't always get the same whistle other players in the league do, and that inconsistent officiating is hurting his team more than it's helping.
"Sometimes she does not get the benefit of the call," Smesko said. "If she shuffles a pivot foot she'll get called for the travel, but then you see much more egregious travels on the other end and there won't be anything."
Fouling and changes to how officials are calling games have both been dominant topics this season. Multiple coaches and players have accused referees of unfairly targeting them during games, and more than one coach has called for more consistency in how games are called. Smesko said that he's approached the league about his concerns, but it's unclear what response he's received.
Reese is currently three technical fouls from a mandatory one-game suspension. She and Caitlin Clark lead the league in techs, which makes how they're fouled and how they foul all the more important.
The WNBA established a fouling task force this year
The offseason was dominated by Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) negotiations on the player side this season, something that took up plenty of attention and headlines. It turns out that while the league was working out a new deal with players, it was also putting together a kind of task force to address concerns about officiating and fouling.
That task force included Minnesota's head coach Cheryl Reeve, as well as other coaches from the league. The Indiana Fever's Stephanie White has also questioned consistency between how different referees call games, and has outright implied that the way games are being called is harming her team.
Theoretically, an uptick in calls means that the new system is working, but that's really only true if it seems that the uptick applies to everyone. If coaches and players believe they're being unfairly called when others are not — or even that they're getting fair calls while other players are overlooked — tension will continue to build. As we've seen recently, sometimes that tension can spill over into other areas of the game, prompting discussion that can range that can, at times, feel pointed and personal.
Player safety is also part of the conversation. Missed calls can result in a player being hurt or even accidentally hurting others.
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