Kelsey Plum’s first taste of life in purple and gold didn’t start with a usual jumper or a slick dime. It started with her trying to move the basket. Yep, moments before her preseason debut for the Los Angeles Sparks against the Golden State Valkyries, the cameras caught her bracing her shoulders against a stanchion. Kelsey Plum was shoving like she planned to knock the whole thing down. Maybe it was her way of prepping herself for the bruises that were about to come. Funny thing is, who knew that all that prep for physicality would mean nothing later in the season? The Golden State ended up testing her patience differently: by driving her straight into a war with the officials.

It was the type of matchup that bled into overtime. After the Sparks’ 81-89 loss to the Golden State Valkyries, Kelsey Plum didn’t hold back. She absolutely ripped the refs over what she called “ticky-tack” whistles. “I’m going to get fined for saying this, but, like, I drive more than anyone in the league. So, to shoot six free throws is f—g absurd,” she vented. Her frustration peaked as she added, “There are multiple shots… into the third, into the fourth… they’re just f—g swinging, and they just don’t call anything.” 

The interesting part is that Kelsey Plum’s complaint, then and now, isn’t about the fouls. It’s about how the whistle always seems to go silent once the final quarters hit. So ahead of the All-Star weekend, when an interviewer wanted her thoughts on how WNBA games have been officiated this season, Kelsey Plum didn’t hold back. She said, ” I think that players and coaches are really just asking for a level of consistency. From the first to the fourth, right? So if a foul is a foul on the first, it’s got to be a foul on the fourth.” 

If you had to sum up her stance in one word, it’s consistency. Kelsey Plum is fine with physical play. She just wants it all to be called evenly. “If you’re going to allow physicality, allow it. Don’t measure it up with ticky-tack fouls or let certain things slide. Everyone’s just looking for consistency.” Hopefully, the reasons for her frustration won’t repeat in the All-Star matchup. And whatever goes down, we will bring you every moment of it live, from Gainbridge Fieldhouse, first-hand from EssentiallySports. Plum, however, is not the only one reaching her boiling point; others are, in fact, calling out the bias more explicitly.

Team Collier’s Angel Reese sounded off after playing against the league-leading Lynx after Sunday’s 80-75 loss. There, the Sky attempted just eight free throws compared to the Lynx’s 17. “It’s tough when you talk to officials, and I asked them, ‘Hey, we’ve only been to the free throw line twice up until the fourth quarter,’ and she tells me it’s not her job,” Reese said postgame. “It’s frustrating because I know how hard we are battling inside… we came down and fought as hard as we could with what we had, and I just know we continue to grow in this.” She even took her criticism to X later, writing, “DO BETTER. @WNBA.” 

But that isn’t all. Questions are also mounting around Caitlin Clark, with her brother, coaches, and teammates questioning the real reason why she has to sit out of the All-Star game.

Emotions Behind Caitlin Clark’s All-Star Absence

All-Star captain Caitlin Clark’s All-Star weekend took a rough turn when she suffered a groin injury in the final minute of her team’s July 15 win over the Connecticut Sun. There, she tweaked herself while making a pass to Kelsey Mitchell. This has led her to sit out both the July 18 three-point contest and the July 19 WNBA All-Star Game. The worst part is that the whole celebration is happening on her home court in Indianapolis.

For all these reasons, her younger brother, Colin Clark, naturally felt frustrated. He went viral after pointing the finger at the officials for her injury. In an X post, he wrote, “Make no mistake, this is on the reffing.” While he deleted the post later, the screenshots had already spread. Then, during a July 17 Twitch stream with Lynx stars Natisha Hiedeman and Courtney Williams, Colin doubled down on his take. He said, “Fix the refereeing in WNBA, it’s bad though… Calling out the WNBA referees.”

Injuries have been a really frustrating theme for Clark in 2025. Before this groin issue, she had already missed five games with a left quad strain. Even Fever coach Stephanie White linked Clark’s heavy workload and the constant physical play that she faces as contributing factors to this situation. “Someone who has the ball in her hands as much as Caitlin, the physicality that she’s experiencing for 40 minutes, it causes you to load differently, explode differently, accelerate and decelerate differently… I do think the physicality with which teams are able to play with her is a factor,” White said.

It’s true because the opponents haven’t been shy about their strategy either. Golden State Valkyries assistant Natalie Nakase admitted earlier this season, “We know she doesn’t like physicality.” Now, with Clark sidelined again, the debate over WNBA officiating, and whether the lack of foul calls is putting stars like her at greater risk, is only getting louder.