Diana Taurasi addresses WNBA referee controversy: 'Just get over it'
· Yahoo Sports
CHICAGO ― Diana Taurasi has thoughts about the discourse surrounding the WNBA's officiating.
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On Saturday, July 25 during the league's All-Star weekend, Taurasi attended an Aflac and Togethxr "Queens of the Court" panel with South Carolina women's basketball coach Dawn Staley, Indiana Fever guard Raven Johnson and Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride. The panel, hosted by women's sports champion Ari Chambers, covered several topics on the state of women's basketball.
Along with the rest of the panel, Taurasi chimed in with thoughts, "hot takes" and commentary, but her stance on the WNBA referees and the chatter surrounding them felt especially noteworthy.
"Coming from me, this is gonna sound funny, but the reffing, just get over it," Taurasi said, smiling and laughing to the audience. "Either fix it ... or completely just get over it. ... It hasn't changed in 30 years. It's the same old refs.
"The more you perpetuate the reffing, the less you talk about Kelsey Mitchell. A'ja (Wilson). (Kayla McBride). Like that's what we need to talk about. You might not believe it, but you get to pick the narrative, too, as fans. Like Dawn (Staley) said, your voice is heard. Change the narrative ... hopefully it will change, and it will change overnight because that's systemic. ... So, it's getting better. They're gonna try to make it better."
Taurasi played 20 seasons in the WNBA with the Phoenix Mercury. Throughout her career, she was no stranger to speaking about officiating or receiving technical fouls for telling referees how she felt about the call. She was suspended multiple times for an accumulation of technical fouls during a season. Taurasi's latest stance, albeit said somewhat playfully, seems to be a change from years past.
The WNBA's officials and how they call games have come under greater scrutiny in recent months as the league attempts to tamp down on the physicality in games. The league emphasized calling games tighter to reduce the physicality and to allow for more freedom of movement.
"Refereeing remains an imperfect craft, and we're not claiming any kind of perfection here," Monty McCutchen, head of NBA, WNBA and G League officiating, said. "This idea that basketball is a non-contact sport is a little silly. We want to create the right environment where people are rewarded for assertive play. But we've collectively felt that the league had taken a step into rough play."
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Diana Taurasi addresses WNBA referee controversy: 'Just get over it'