Mercury’s Brittney Griner Addresses Unfair Referee Whistles, Takes a Dig at Opponents

The Phoenix Mercury suffered a 70-84 defeat in their recent matchup against the New York Liberty. With just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, every win is crucial for playoff contenders. Despite the fierce competition that marked the game by halftime, Brittney Griner believes that questionable officiating ultimately tipped the scales against the Mercury.

During the post-game presser, the 33-year-old expressed her displeasure with the way the game unfolded. She also talked about how poor officiating is becoming a recurring theme in their games. Griner’s teammate, Natasha Cloud also spoke about the unfair calls that were made by the refs and stated that at some point, the league’s administration will have to interfere.

Griner stated that the Mercury players have had enough of the bias, but they understand that this is not the right time for an outburst.

“We got to be professional. People aren’t perfect, and you’re going to boil over. But we also know that you can’t give them more things to call against us and put them on the line. As much as it stings and it hurts, we have to lock in.”

A positive attitude even at the time when her teammates believed that they were being wronged by the refs is only because Griner wanted to focus on the playoffs. The 10-time WNBA All-Star stated that making it into the playoffs and then taking the season further from there is her only priority, but it’s undeniable that her team has become an easy target.

During the post-game presser, Griner also took a shot at the opposition and stated, “They’re playing a real clean game, I guess,” which speaks to the frustration among players. The league’s administration must take a look into this matter because growing resentment towards referees among the players can lead to disappointing results in terms of the quality of games.

Cloud also expressed her frustration over the ongoing referee debate.

“Everyone wants to know why the Phoenix Mercury has the most techs in the league, it’s because the games are not being called equally on both ends of the floor. So, we’re having to advocate every single night, we’re having to fight every single night, because we’re bring the best product that we can on the floor.”

In the last game, the difference in number of free throws the two teams shot was massive. The Mercury only got four free throws, three were shot by Diana Taurasi and one by Griner. The Liberty on the other hand, received 16 free throws, and they made 14 of it. In addition to that, the Mercury has the most techs in the league at 27.