WNBA rule changes should help protect Caitlin Clark

The WNBA 2025 season saw record numbers of television viewership and attendance. Still, fans lamented the absence of Caitlin Clark, who was forced out of all but 13 games as she dealt with soft tissue injuries throughout the campaign.

Since arriving in the league, Clark has been subjected to the WNBA’s trademark physicality, with some even wondering if teams were extra physical with the sharpshooter. It’s hard to know if the toll from that physicality was in any way responsible for Clark’s frustrating bill of health last year, but it certainly didn’t do her any favors.

However, the WNBA has made some notable changes that should help keep Clark and the sport’s other top stars much healthier. Those changes include increased penalties for flagrant fouls, per Front Office Sports, which should serve to deter any unnecessary physicality.

“Flagrant fouls are counted differently than technical fouls. There is a points system for flagrant fouls where a Flagrant 1 counts for one point and a Flagrant 2 counts for two points. Each point is worth $500, compared to $200 last year, a 2.5x increase,” FOS reported.

“Players will receive an automatic one-game suspension when they hit four points. A player will receive a two-game suspension if they are called for a Flagrant 2 while already accumulating 3 points, or if they hit six points.”

In the preseason, game officials also seem to have a tighter whistle than has been the norm in the WNBA, something the first overall pick in the 2026 draft, Azzi Fudd,  noted.

“I thought you could be physical in the W, and anytime you touch someone, it’s a foul,” Fudd said in a post game presser during the preseason.

Protecting The Product

Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve talked about the changes, which she feels were necessary to protect the league’s product on the floor.

“While they were hard at work on the (CBA), we were hard at work on the state of the game… We don’t want the level of physicality that we’ve seen in our game … We play beautiful basketball in the W. We Gotta make sure it’s not marred by unnecessary physical contact.”

Cheryl Reeve on the officiating in the WNBA/the new fines for fouls:

“While they were hard at work on the (CBA), we were hard at work on the state of the game… We don’t want the level of physicality that we’ve seen in our game … We play beautiful basketball in the W. We…

— Meghan L. Hall (@ItsMeghanLHall) May 5, 2026

It’ll be interesting to see how the changes affect game action over the course of the year.