Protest Erupts Once Again Over Unrivaled Officials as Napheesa Collier’s $28M League Lands Itself in Turmoil

Unrivaled and officiating- a bigger battle than the game itself! While Napheesa Collier and Unrivaled must have been celebrating the internet’s love for their newly launched league, which closed its Series A investment round with $28 million, they must also be aware that the louder conversation is about something else—bad officiating. Every week, there’s some call that has fans up in arms, and this time, the outrage erupted during the Rose BC vs. Mist BC matchup. 

The second game on Saturday, March 1, saw No. 2 seed Rose BC and No. 5 seed Mist BC lock horns, both riding win streaks. Breanna Stewart, Courtney Vandersloot, and Rickea Jackson started for Mist, while Rose rolled out Angel Reese, Chelsea Gray, and Lexie Hull. Rose BC came out swinging in the first quarter—Hull attacked the rim, Reese dominated in mismatches against Vandersloot, and Gray either set them up or called her own number.

Mist responded with DiJonai Carrington making an instant impact off the bench, securing a slim 20-19 first-quarter lead. By halftime, Mist held onto a 41-39 advantage, with Gray’s buzzer-beater keeping Rose right on their heels. Eventually, co-founder Stewie’s Mist took it home. 71-62. 

Amidst it all came THE moment. Brittney Sykes was sprinting to the rim, eyeing an easy bucket when Jackson came flying in for a chase-down block. Clean, right? That’s what fans thought too. But, the refs blew the whistle, calling a technical on Jackson. Cue the deafening boos from the arena. Jackson, for the obvious reason, was furious.

And it got worse, she picked up a second tech and was ejected. In total, Mist racked up 11 personal fouls compared to Rose’s 20. And if this feels familiar, it’s because it is. Remember Angel Reese’s controversial ejection? That one blew up online. 

And just yesterday, Dallas Wings star DiJonai Carrington took to Instagram to vent about the refs in her own matchup against Phantom BC. She posted a picture of herself looking absolutely baffled, captioning it: “me all game yesterday bc the r*fs were on my [nuts].” She may have only put up nine points in that game, but got issued five fouls in eight minutes.

Simply put, it has been a season-long problem in the new league. And it’s not just the players—fans have had it with the officiating, and they’re making their voices heard as even this time they’re confident that what Jackson did was nothing but a “clean block.”

Napheesa Collier & Breanna Stewart need to fix the officiating mess

The WNBA Finals had its own ref drama, with Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve going off after Liberty won the title, saying, “the title was stolen from us.” But now, some folks think Unrivaled officiating is even worse. “Nvr thought officiating could get worse than the W smh Unrivaled has them beat,” one fan wrote.

Another chimed in, “Y’all need to do something about the refs. They’ve been the worst part of this experience.” And that’s the thing—Unrivaled is bringing high-energy, entertaining basketball to fans. The format is exciting, the talent is undeniable, but bad officiating is becoming a real turnoff. If Collier and the league don’t figure this out soon, it could hurt them going forward.

Then there’s this, “I’m sorry, Unrivaled trash as h— lol whose dumb a– idea was it to have WNBA players play full-court 3v3?” Now, Unrivaled put its own spin on 3×3 by making it full-court on a slightly smaller court, which theoretically makes for more space and a faster pace. 

But some fans aren’t buying it. They feel like it was a bad idea from the start, and this officiating mess isn’t helping its case. And obvioulsy, there are the fans who just want to see a more physical game. “Let the girls play ball without all these soft a– whistles #Unrivaled,” one fan wrote. 

While, realistically, you can’t have a game without refs, the frustration is understandable. People want competitive basketball, not a whistle-fest. Not everyone thought Jackson’s foul call was totally bogus, though. 

“Body then ball…it’s a foul 🤷🏾‍♂️ If it was ball then body, different story, but just cause it’s clean up top doesn’t mean body contact can’t cause a foul.” Still, the overall sentiment remains that people are over these refs.

So, what now? 

Look, Unrivaled is in its first season, and hiccups are expected. But officiating can’t be one of them for much longer. If Napheesa Collier and Breanna Stewart want this league to last, they need to find a fix and FAST. Otherwise, the audience might just check out for good.