A year after their first WNBA title, the Sky enter the 2022 season with high hopes.
One of the league’s deeper teams, Chicago seems poised to repeat. Hey, with Candace Parker and Courtney Vandersloot, that sort of success almost seems inevitable.
And, in all likelihood, they may still get that repeat title yet. But in Game 1, at the beginning of their title defense, the Sky (-3.5 point favorites coming in) lost a 98-91 heartbreaker to the Sparks. They’ll probably move on from this soon but, thanks to a terrible call, it doesn’t sting any less.
Let’s take it to the end of the fourth quarter, with the Sky nursing an 88-85 lead. Jordin Canada took the ball the length of the court before pulling up for a three, as Dana Evans came to challenge her. When Canada rose, it seemed Evans made contact, and the officials gifted Canada three throws to force overtime. There, L.A. would eventually pull away and win.
But did Evans really foul her?
Just an atrocious foul call to force overtime pic.twitter.com/xcMGDm8ED2
— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) May 7, 2022
Oh no. Oh goodness, no. That is the definition of a soft call. Like, it’s nonexistent contact that should have never decided the final result. That’s absurd officiating which took away a win from the Sky.
Fans watching the game were similarly displeased about the call.
