Key Points
Bullet point summary by AI
- The WNBA is calling more fouls this season, averaging 21.6 per game in the first week.
- The increased whistle usage has disrupted game flow and limited key players' minutes, like Natasha Howard of the Minnesota Lynx.
- Whether players and referees will adjust remains uncertain, but the current trend is affecting fan watchability and team performance.
Watch a WNBA game this season and there's one sound you're going to hear almost as much as you hear the sound of the ball bouncing and the sneakers squeaking: the ref's whistle.
In an effort to crack down on the physical play that has, to be fair, been an issue in recent years, the WNBA is calling more fouls. It's a fine idea, but the execution so far has everything frustrated.
Fouls are up in the WNBA, and that's a bit of a problem
The drive to get some of the unnecessary physical play out of the league is a good impulse. In theory, it helps open up the offense more and creates a style of play that's going to be more appealing to the modern basketball fan. Newcomers to the league want to see Caitlin Clark doing what she did in college, and one way to go about that is to open up more space for the offense.
But this is a double-edged sword, and early on, we're seeing the downside of this approach. Per the AP, WNBA teams are averaging 21.6 fouls per game over the first week of the season. Last season, the overall average was 17.5 fouls per game per team, though the first week of the 2025 season saw teams commit 19.9 per game. It's understandable that more fouls will be called early in the season as both players and referees adjust to a new year, but the rise in 2026 is still notable. The goal appears to be that by calling more whistles, players will tone down the physicality somewhat in order to avoid foul calls.
It remains to be seen if that will actually happen, though. Right now, the issue just seems to be frustrating for everyone, as the constant foul calls disrupt the flow of the game and lead to key players sitting on the bench longer than usual.
Take the Minnesota Lynx, for example. Natasha Howard is averaging 4.7 fouls per game, two more than she averaged last season. While she's averaging more minutes than she did in 2025, her 27.7 minutes per game is still lower than Minnesota probably needs, as the team is without its three best forwards from last season — Alanna Smith and Jessica Shepard are now in Dallas while Napheesa Collier is out injured.
Every minute without Howard on the floor is a minute where the Lynx are in trouble:
Net Rating | |
|---|---|
Howard On Court | +15.27 |
Howard Off Court | -16.81 |
The increase in foul calls is hurting teams that rely more heavily on their starters. Maybe you could say that's an issue with roster construction, but it's also an issue that impacts watchability: Fans want to see the best players on the court for as much time as possible, and the aggressive foul calls are preventing that from happening consistently.
Hopefully, as the season goes along, this sorts itself out, whether by players adjusting to the new whistle or by the refs realizing that they're asserting themselves too much into the game. It remains to be seen if that will actually happen, but for now, these foul calls are getting a little out of hand.
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