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Two-time WNBA champion and three-time MVP Lisa Leslie opened up about the falling standards of officiating in the WNBA ,citing examples from her own playing career. The league's refereeing has been the hot topic among the fans, players and coaches alike during the entire postseason.
On Thursday, the WNBA legend discussed the officiating issues prevalent in the league on the Between the Lines podcast available on the Just Women's Sports' YouTube channel.
In her statement, Lisa Leslie revealed that most of the issues in the league's refereeing can be credited to constant changes made to the officiating squad.
Comparing the W's officiating staff with the NBA, she remarked that the successful league has retained its officials for a long period of time.
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"The refs and officials that we had at times would talk to us," she said. "Because we had relationships. You understood the officials, who it was, what their names were ... because we are all on display here." (21:32)
Lisa Leslie argued that the constant changes to the officiating staff haven't allowed a relationship to form between the players and the referees.
She said that officials need to be committed to the WNBA. She added that the referees should be knowing of the tendencies of different players in the league for the officiating to be fair.
Lisa Leslie compares WNBA leadership in her time to the leadership now
Napheesa Collier dropped a bomb of a reveal during her exit interview on Wednesday when she questioned the current leadership structure of the WNBA. The Minnesota Lynx star called out league commissioner Cathy Engelbert and leaked her private conversations with the league's head.
Following Phee's revelation, WNBA legend Lisa Leslie discussed the subject on her podcast. Autumn Johnson, the podcast's co-host, asked Leslie to describe the league's leadership during her playing career and reveal any problems she and the players of her time had faced.
"For us, yes, we had some of these issues with the league where we have gone back and forth, but I do feel like we were heard... especially with our first presiden,t Val Ackerman," Leslie said.(9:35)
Collier credited Ackerman's second in command, Renne Brown, for going to extreme measures to find a happy medium between the players and the league. She also credited the NBA commissioner at the time, David Stern, for being expressive in his support for the WNBA.
