The Las Vegas Aces avenged a disappointing Game 1 loss in the WNBA semifinals with a dominant 90-68 blowout of the Indiana Fever on Tuesday night. But after the game, Aces coach Becky Hammon was more interested in discussing the officiating and what she believes is unchecked physicality in the series’ first two games.
“The physicality is out of control, that’s for sure,” Hammon said. “You can bump and grab a wide receiver in the NFL for those first five yards, but you can do it in the W for the whole half court. You put two hands on somebody — that should be an automatic foul.”
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Despite a spike in foul calls — 41 in Game 2 compared with 27 in the opener — Hammon maintained that referees are still allowing too much contact. In her view, the problem isn’t just the number of whistles, but when and how they’re applied. Hammon noted that many of her own assistants have NBA experience and warned that such physical play “would not fly in the NBA. There’d be fights.”
Hammon, who spent seven years as an assistant coach for Gregg Popovich with the San Antonio Spurs, argued that the WNBA’s current tolerance for contact “kills freedom of movement.” She acknowledged the Aces committed fouls, too, but insisted there’s a tipping point between aggressive physicality and chaos. “And I’m not saying that we’re not fouling, too, I’m not saying that. I’m saying it’s out of control.”
Hammon had already raised eyebrows earlier in the playoffs when she likened Indiana’s first-round series with Atlanta to a “football match,” adding, “some of the hits that I saw in the Atlanta-Indiana game, if I did that to you in the street, I would be arrested.”
Still, Hammon’s comments are not without risk. Just last week, Caitlin Clark was fined $200 for publicly criticizing officials, a reminder that the league keeps a close eye on how its referees are discussed. For now, Hammon has leaned into her role as both defender of her players and instigator of this debate.
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One subplot in this series has been the post battle between A’ja Wilson and Aliyah Boston, a clash of two of the league’s most physical presences. In Game 1, Boston held Wilson to 16 points on just 6-of-22 shooting, a rare off night for the 2025 MVP. Boston didn’t fill up the box score herself — six points, 11 rebounds, five assists — but she admitted her goal was simple: “just trying to kind of be annoying a little bit.”
Wilson downplayed the defensive pressure, saying her matchup with Boston was “no different than any other time” they’ve faced. The foul battle has been telling, though: in Game 1, Boston picked up three fouls while Wilson had four, but in Game 2 the script flipped with Wilson staying clean with just one foul to Boston’s three.
As the semifinals shift back to Indianapolis for Game 3, Hammon’s critique lingers in the background, framing the conversation as much as the scoreboard. For the Aces and Fever alike, that tension may be as defining as the stars battling in the paint.
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
Indiana Fever, Las Vegas Aces, WNBA
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