When a ref corrects himself, the player’s face often says more than any postgame comment ever could, and against the Toronto Tempo, Aliyah Boston had one of those moments. The Indiana Fever star was caught on camera during the game reacting to a referee in a particularly amusing manner.
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According to @_girltalk, who posted the clip to X, Boston was dumbfounded by a particular call from game referee Josh Reed. Boston was caught on the broadcast walking alongside the official, staring at him with a confused expression on her face, something that the X account seemed to recognize. Though Reed corrected the bad foul call after some deliberation, Boston’s visible frustration captured the moment of confusion.
“Wow, the refs actually corrected their own bad call without being forced to. Growth!” the X post read. “Aliyah making sure he knew though lmaoooo.”
Aliyah Boston’s frustration may have stemmed from both the call and her own slow start. The center had a quiet first half for the Fever, posting just three points, three assists, and three rebounds in 10:46 minutes on the court while playing some solid defense.
Knowing Aliyah Boston, her restraint during the moment was notable considering how vocal she has been about officiating in the past. For instance, back on May 30, she spoke about how the Fever’s opponents, the Golden State Valkyries, had been able to sell calls while the referees muddled up Indiana’s offensive flow.
“I wasn’t able to get into a flow,” she said after the two-point loss. “It’s super hard to figure out how the refs are going to be calling it. It’s hard to get charge fouls when they’re not in legal position. Shout out to the Valks for selling it, and the refs bought it, to be honest.”
Against the Tempo, though, most of the scoring burden was carried by the guard duo of Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, who, with five minutes left in the third quarter, logged a combined 40 of the Fever’s 66 points, with Clark also adding 10 assists to go along with the scoring. However, the game hasn’t been an easy one for the Fever.
Despite facing a Tempo squad missing leading scorer Marina Mabrey, sidelined with a season-ending hip injury, the Fever have been unable to stay in the lead for long stretches. Despite holding a 16-point lead in the second quarter, the Fever allowed the Tempo to run back into the game by rushing possessions without proper play.
In the final 2:19 of the second quarter, the Fever’s 53-38 lead evaporated. The Tempo pulled off a 12-0 run, which featured them going 3-for-3 from the field and 4-for-5 from the foul line, turning the score to a narrow 53-50 lead for the Fever at halftime.
The Fever as a team don’t seem to get along with referees much, especially with events that previously occurred this season. Back on June 24, Clark was infamously hit by Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas near the neck area, but no foul was called on Thomas for the non-basketball play. In the aftermath of the incident, many teammates expressed frustration with the refs, including bench guard Sophie Cunningham.
“You see the videos of, like, literally kneeing and [giving Clark a cheap shot] in the throat,” Cunningham on her Show Me Something podcast.
“If she did that to any of our teammates, we would be pissed. They are definitely targeting her, and the league and the refs do nothing to protect her.”
All of this officiating trouble has left a sour taste in the mouths of the Fever, which was once again indicated by Aliyah Boston’s stare after the bad call against the Tempo. However, in her most recent interview following the FIBA World Cup, Clark herself is “working with” the refs and is trying to avoid getting an eighth technical foul with three games left in the regular season.
“I mean, I really only have three more games to go because [once] the fourth game starts, if I get a technical, I’m not kicked out of the game, and then it resets for the playoffs.”
Regardless, only time will tell if the Fever can close the gap against the shorthanded Tempo squad, and if Aliyah Boston’s frustrations will carry over into the postgame conference.