WNBA To Implement Replay System as Commissioner Tries To Keep Her Job

Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark poured in her signature three-point rainbows, delighting a WNBA All-Star Game record crowd of 19,783 at the United Center, helping Team Spoon defeat Team Coop 129-122 Saturday night at Chicago.Ms. Clark scored 17 points while New York Liberty forward Jonquel Jones scored 22 to claim the Most Valuable Player Award. But the most significant news came before the game when WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert announced the league will launch a “fully centralized” replay center beginning next season in an effort to improve officiating.The WNBA replay center will be connected to every WNBA arena, creating high-speed replays between the court and the replay center. Much like the NBA, which has had a replay center since the 2014-2015 season, plays eligible for review under WNBA playing rules will be transmitted instantly to the replay center where replay officials will identify the most conclusive view from in-arena camera angles and provide them to the officiating crew at the game. Replay personnel, WNBA operations leadership, and rotating officials are also available to lend support.“This is one of the most significant investments we’ve ever made in our basketball operations,” Ms. Engelbert told reporters in Chicago. “We’re really excited about this project, the value it’ll bring to the game, and we have a lot of people working on it behind the scenes to bring it to fruition for the start of next season.”The head of WNBA League Operations, Bethany Donaphin, said in a release that the replay center “allows us to enhance the consistency and efficiency of replay reviews while embracing innovations that strengthen the competition and deliver the best possible experience for all our stakeholders.”WNBA officiating has been a major storyline this season, drawing complaints from players, coaches, media and disgruntled fans. Ms. Engelbert has been under criticism for not doing enough to improve the officiating with many players questioning her leadership in addressing the topic as well as online abuse players are receiving.The Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas blasted the commissioner for being silent on key issues, saying, “You can see what’s being said on social media and as usual she remains silent.”Ms. Thomas said she received death threats over an incident with Ms. Clark that highlighted the officiating issues in the WNBA. During a June 24 game in Indianapolis the Mercury forward pushed her fist directly into Ms. Clark’s throat while scrambling for a loose ball. Game officials didn’t call a foul on the play but a subsequent league review resulted in Ms. Thomas being retroactively assessed as a Flagrant 2 foul and a one-game suspension.Ms. Engelbert has been doing damage control since. She first issued a statement denouncing online abuse and last week held a meeting with leaders of the players union to discuss steps being taken to curtail online harassment. The union reps said they’d like more communication on such matters. “Communication from Cathy and the league side being a little more consistent, so we feel more comfortable,” the secretary of the Women’s National Basketball Player’s Association, Elizabeth Williams, told reporters at Chicago.Ms. Engelbert, the WNBA commissioner since 2019, has been under fire since last winter when players became disgruntled with progress on a new collective bargaining agreement. At the time, Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier described the WNBA office as the “worst leadership in the world.”Eventually, a new seven-year deal was signed in March resulting in million-dollar contracts for the first time in league history.With her contract set to expire after this season, Ms. Engelbert has avoided talking about her future as the league commissioner. “I’m focused head-down on executing this highly, highly successful 30th season,” she told reporters at Chicago. “I love this league. We’re going to continue to drive the business. And don’t worry about me. It’s more about the team. That’s what we’ve built here at the W. So, I’m really, really optimistic about where we’re going in the future.”Los Angeles Sparks player Nneka Ogwumike, who has served as the player’s association president for 10 years, didn’t exactly endorse the return of Ms. Engelbert, who was appointed by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver.“It’s not on me to decide,” Ms. Ogwumike said at Chicago. “As players, when leadership is here, we rock with leadership.”Ms. Engelbert has overseen the league’s rapid commercial growth, including a $3 billion media rights deal, historic expansion and unprecedented attendance and viewership. She highlighted those milestones while addressing the media before the All-Star Game.“I think the quality of the game has never been higher,” she said. “Fans are responding to the best basketball in the world through record engagement. This season delivered historic performances. We’re reaching more fans than ever before.”

WNBA To Implement Replay System as Commissioner Tries To Keep Her Job

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