Amid Caitlin Clark, Angel Reese Controversy, Fans Blame WNBA Referees After Skylar Diggins-Smith Gets Elbowed

WNBA games are continuing to get intense by the day. After the Angel Reese incident on Wednesday, that even saw match referee Charles Watson garner the community’s wrath, we have yet another example of extreme physicality on the hardwood. Tonight, 6x All-Star Skylar Diggins-Smith—who went against her former team, the Phoenix Mercury, for the first time this season—was left tending to her injuries with just three minutes 25 seconds remaining in the second quarter!

A Commissioner’s Cup victory brought with it some agonizing pain for the 5-foot-9 point guard. Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper grabbed a rebound and went coast-to-coast for a layup. However, while attempting the maneuver, Copper’s left elbow gave Smith a rather nasty blow to the face. Consequently, the referee called a shooting foul on Copper while Diggins-Smith could be seen lying on the floor clutching her face. However, the decision didn’t go down well with her, leading to a challenge.

After a ref-initiated challenge, Copper was slapped with a technical foul owing to an “unnecessary basketball move“. Following the calls, Skylar Diggins-Smith made the technical free throw. Then Copper made one herself to complete the three-point play. Despite the hard blow, the mother of two left the floor for rest but returned as the third quarter began. In her 31 minutes tonight, the 6x WNBA All-Star grabbed 17 points. She also topped the 80-62 Storm victory with 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 1 block.

The Seattle Storm player has chosen to remain silent on the matter, which is contrary to her past reactions that fueled her exit from the Phoenix Mercury. From afar, it does look like a simple foul. But if one digs deeper, there’s more than what meets the eye.

The bad blood came to light for the second time in August 2023, when Diggins-Smith accused the team of unfair treatment during the course of her maternity leave and even exposed them on social media after the birth of her second child. Revealing how she wasn’t allowed to access massage therapists, chiropractor, chefs, strength and conditioning, and nutritionist accessibility, the player wrote, “It was all good when I was leaving for personal time!! But when I’m leaving bc I was having complications and scared of risking my child….while leading the league in minutes (pregnant). Trade her?”

But the storm started brewing back in May 2022, when the 33-year-old was tangled in a heated argument with Diana Taurasi in Phoenix’s bench. While the duo didn’t address the debacle publicly, then-coach Vanessa Nygaard brushed it under the rug. However, the immediate repercussions came with Smith sitting out the next two games and Taurasi opting out of the WNBA All-Star Game. Soon after, Nygaard addressed the situation, saying the All-Star game was not a true All-Star Game due to Taurasi’s absence. To this, the Indiana native expressed her displeasure on X, with a clown emoticon.

One thing is clear: During her three-season tenure with the Phoenix Mercury, conflicts transpired across all three dynamics: player-player, player-coach and player-team management. So, it wouldn’t be surprising to assume that the Mercury team still holds a grudge against their former No. 4! So, was tonight’s contact personally motivated?

All in all, the WNBA games seem to becoming more heated with each passing game. Not just veterans like Skylar Diggins-Smith, but even the rookies are facing some tough time. Just tonight, Angel Reese was ejected from her game after 5 personal fouls and 2 technical fouls and for undermining the referee’s calls. Following this, the incident has managed to evoke a lot of reactions from fans.

Fans evaluate Skylar Diggins-Smith’s on-court rough episode

The incident grabbed a lot of eyeballs as followers of the sport flooded it with their various reactions. Pointing out the previous events of physicality in the league, one fan even likened the occurrences to the UFC. The comment read, “I’ve watched a few of these W games this season and between Reese getting basically choke slammed, Carter thinking she’s playing hockey against Clark and know a forearm of Diggins Smith’s face… beginning to wonder if the NBA has dropped all support for the W and UFC is picking up the slack.” 

Case in point: During Connecticut Sun’s May 26 game with Chicago Sky, Angel Reese was choke slammed to the ground by Alyssa Thomas, earning the latter a flagrant-2 foul. In another instance of aggressiveness, Reese’s teammate Chennedy Carter also received a flagrant foul for pushing Caitlin Clark.

On the other hand, some opined that Kahleah Copper’s actions were intentional. One of the fans wrote, “The players think we’re stupid. If you’re a basketball player you know that was intentional.” Meanwhile, the referees, Eric Brewton, Kevin Fahy, and Gerda Gatling, received backlash for not calling Copper’s actions an offensive foul, which would have canceled her basket and instead handed possession to Seattle. “Offensive foul. It’s as clear as day,” read one comment.

Also, some people were convinced that the defensive foul on Skylar Diggins-Smith was unjustified. Blaming Copper for the entire turn of events, one fan put forth an unfiltered take on the entire scenario, writing, “There was no foul by Skylar. Copper swung her arm. That is not a bball move. You can put your arm up and out to keep the D off you but you can’t swing. This is common sense type skills these damn players need to learn. The whole league needs cleaned up.” 

The critical evaluation of Copper and the officials didn’t stop there. One of the observers suggested that Clear Out Arm is not a basketball play and that changes need to be made in this regard in the league. While the refs did call it an unnecessary basketball move, fans didn’t seem to be satisfied. The comment was, “CLEAROUT ARM is not a basketball play. Upgrade these refs, it would benefit the entire league.” 

Whether you believe that it’s just Caitlin Clark or not, many would say that if a veteran like Skylar Diggins-Smith can catch a blow to the face and get bloody, maybe it’s just the competitive fire in these women. For now, the Seattle Storm is on a 5-game winning streak and it will be interesting to see if they can continue this for the ultimate prize.

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.