The frustration surrounding the WNBA’s poor player pay, inconsistent officiating, and questionable leadership has reached a boiling point following the conclusion of the 2025 WNBA Finals.
Across social media and within team circles, players, fans, and analysts have voiced concerns about the league’s inability to modernize its infrastructure in line with its growing popularity. But while the league’s top brass remains silent, one team executive has stepped forward with a bold and practical proposal. They have urged the WNBA to adopt the NBA’s approach by implementing two transformative systems.
What Has a WNBA Team’s Executive Suggested?
A recent ESPN report revealed that a prominent WNBA team executive believes the league’s lack of advanced officiating support is undermining the game’s integrity and its players’ safety.
The executive’s first recommendation is to immediately create a “Replay Center,” which should be modeled after the NBA’s highly successful system.
“My first issue with officiating is not the officials, it’s that it’s not resourced from the arenas we play in, to not having a replay center. That’s a fundamental [resource], I think, that objectively needs to be changed,” said the executive as per ESPN.
As used in the NBA, a replay center allows officials to review critical plays in real time using multiple camera angles from a centralized location, which is far more efficient and accurate than the limited in-arena reviews currently used in the WNBA.
This centralized approach not only corrects officiating errors but also ensures fairness in high-stakes moments where a single missed call can shift the entire outcome of a playoff series.
The need for such a system was painfully evident in Game 3 of the Minnesota Lynx and the Phoenix Mercury semifinals. In the second half, Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier drove to the basket on a fast break only to be undercut by Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas in a high-speed collision.
Collier crumpled to the hardwood. She sustained a sprain that would rule her out for the rest of the postseason. The referees who were caught in the chaos ruled the contact as incidental and waved off the play.
When Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve attempted to challenge the call, her request was denied due to the WNBA’s limited on-court review capabilities. The lack of a multi-angle system prevented officials from catching the clear trip caused by Thomas’s foot hooking Collier’s pivot leg.
A frustrated Reeve was eventually ejected after an expletive-laced outburst, while postgame footage revealed that the play should have been ruled a flagrant foul. Had a replay center been in place, the error could have been corrected instantly.
Moreover, the executive didn’t stop there. The second recommendation was for the WNBA to adopt “Last Two Minute Reports,” which is a transparency measure already used by the NBA to publicly disclose officiating errors in the final moments of close games.
“The team executive also said there needs to be a Last Two Minute report like there is in the NBA to establish transparency and credibility with the officials, as well as a replay center to review calls in real time,” read a part from the ESPN report.
Amid the backlash the WNBA front office now faces, it remains to be seen whether the league will finally act.