EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsKNOXVILLE, Tennessee -- As they prepare to be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame on Saturday, two-time WNBA MVPs Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne and four-time championship-winning coach Cheryl Reeve spoke Friday about what progress has been made in the league's officiating and style of play -- and what still needs to get better.Speaking one day after the WNBA suspended Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas for her hit on the Fever's Caitlin Clark, Parker, Delle Donne and Reeve agreed the league needs to do a better job protecting its players and cracking down on excessive contact.Parker and Delle Donne, who finished their playing careers in 2023, said they both took a lot of contact as post players who moved around the court like guards."The physicality has always been there," said Parker, who won WNBA titles with Los Angeles (2016), Chicago (2021) and Las Vegas (2023). "It's just now you're having more visibility and new fans and new opinions coming into the game. Because we went through [so much physicality], does not mean that I think that [it has to be that way]."Delle Donne, who battled back issues throughout her career but especially over the last five years of playing, said she would have much preferred more freedom of movement."Trust me, my back wishes I had had a little more of that," said Delle Donne, who played for Chicago and Washington, winning a WNBA title with the Mystics in 2019. "It's more fun to watch, and there are such skilled players out there. We want to see them do what they can do. We don't want to just see them get beat up."Yeah, we're seeing a lot of free throws [this season] and we've got to get through this learning period of, 'OK, we can't crush each other anymore. Let's play good basketball.'"While coaching the Minnesota Lynx in last season's WNBA semifinals, Reeve made an impassioned plea to the league to clean up the game after Thomas ran into Lynx forward Napheesa Collier while going for a steal. Collier injured her ankle on the play and missed the rest of the series. No foul was called on the play, and an incensed Reeve took the officiating and WNBA leadership to task afterward. She was then suspended for Game 4 of that series, which the Mercury won 3-1.Thomas was at the center of the latest controversy in the WNBA earlier this week when she appeared to thrust her fist into Clark's neck during a scramble for a loose ball in Wednesday's game between the Mercury and Fever. No foul was called during the game, but upon a league review Thursday, Thomas was assessed a flagrant 2 foul along with a one-game suspension.Reeve seconded what Fever coach Stephanie White said Wednesday, that it was "egregious" for officials to miss calling excessive actions like what Thomas did to Clark and that it shouldn't have been left to the league to review it. Reeve said the Lynx made a similar request earlier this season, asking the league to review what they felt was a dangerous play in one of their games."We believe those are the acts that have led to some of the more challenging moments in our league of altercations, and that's not what we want to be," Reeve said. "We have a tremendous product, basketball-wise."Still, Reeve said in general things have gotten better this season with officiating and communication with the league about it."We're definitely closer," Reeve said. "I don't think there's any doubt about the investment of time and money that's been made, and attention. The two years of frustration I felt that showed itself [last season] was that they were not listening to key stakeholders. It was not a collaboration. That has changed dramatically."There is a lot more transparency, at least with the teams. The next step is to be more transparent publicly."Parker, who now serves as a broadcast analyst for both women's and men's basketball, and Delle Donne, USA Basketball's managing director for the 3x3 women's national team, also said the WNBA's increased popularity has meant there is more public scrutiny and debate around the league. They acknowledged the discourse isn't always pleasant, but it's inevitable with the league getting a bigger footprint."The reason why there's been a growth in women's basketball is because of more opinions," said Parker. "Anybody [on social media] who has an opinion can write it and you can debate about it. That's what we've wanted for so long. ... The visibility comes with both sides."[But] because women have had to fight for everything within our country, we're being judged on other stuff that isn't just basketball, and that's the difficulty in it. I love a good old debate about who has a better jump shot. That's what I spent my childhood doing at the dinner table before Google."
