The Atlanta Dream publicly criticized WNBA officiating after a 78-75 loss to the Washington Mystics on Friday, July 3, 2026.
Forward Angel Reese received her league-leading sixth technical foul during the game.
Reese was assessed the technical midway through the third quarter after officials reviewed a play where she struck Washington center Shakira Austin in the face.
The league fined Reese $1,000.
Dream guard Jordin Canada expressed intense frustration during the post-game press conference.
She claimed the referees aided the Mystics during a crucial scoring run and failed to protect Reese when she was repeatedly hit while driving to the basket.
"I'm going to get fined, so I don't really care. Tonight, the officiating was awful, horrible," Canada said.
"I don't know how many times Angel has to get beat up in the paint for her to get a foul call.
It was blatant tonight. Every time she had a fast-break layup, she was getting hacked.
In the paint, she was getting hacked – no foul calls," she added.
Canada emphasized that the team was penalized quickly whenever they tried to play with similar physicality on defense.
"But the other way, we can't play physical. Anytime we tried to play physical.
It was always a foul call. So I think officiating has to be better," she said.
She concluded by calling the performance of all three game officials terrible. "For some reason, again, I don't know what Angel has to do.
I don't know what we have to do to get a foul call. But I thought tonight was horrible.
I thought all three refs were terrible," Canada said.
Coach Smesko Echoes Concerns
Head coach Karl Smesko had previously raised similar concerns after a narrow loss to the Golden State Valkyries on June 28.
"I do think it's hard for her because sometimes she does not get the benefit of the calls," Smesko told ESPN.
Smesko noted that small infractions by Reese are heavily scrutinized while worse violations by opponents go unnoticed.
"If she shuffles a pivot foot she'll get called for the travel, but then you see much more egregious travels on the other end and there won't be anything," he said.
Reese is now two technical fouls away from an automatic one-game suspension and additional financial penalties from the WNBA.
