Chicago Sky's Natasha Cloud Blames Refs for Rickea Jackson's Injury
The first week of the 2026 WNBA season saw an average of 21.6 team fouls per game, per the Associated Press, after the league and its newly formed “officiating task force” prioritized reducing physicality in the game over the offseason.
As such, postgame press conferences have averaged at least one officiating complaint since the WNBA’s 30th season tipped off on May 8.
Chicago Sky veteran guard Natasha Cloud hit that quota in her postgame presser after the Sky’s 86-79 win in Minnesota on Sunday.
The Athletic’s Annie Costabile asked Cloud about her message to the team after Sky forward Rickea Jackson exited the game in the second quarter with a non-contact knee injury.
“I actually appreciate the question because I didn’t know how I was gonna get into it,” Cloud said. “My message to the three refs of Maj [Forsberg], Tiara [Cruse], and Clare [Simmons] is that, on top of the points of emphasis that were emphasized at the beginning of the season, their ultimate job is to control and protect the players in this game. I think that this group today failed to do so. They failed to protect Rickea. They failed to control the game.”
Cloud continued:
“Immediately, right before that, I got popped in the face on the way. Didn’t get a call; that’s cool. I go up to them, I say, ‘The game is getting a little out of control. You need to control it.’ And then, the next possession, we have hands all over [Jackson], pushing her back, and we don’t know what’s going on.
Truthfully, I think it’s [expletive]. Obviously, I needed to get a tech. A lot of people think that I’m a crashout, but it was very intentional because I will be damned if a player gets hurt on our team, something that was controllable by the referees. That is a part of their job, and there was no foul called as well. […] I think the points of emphasis is great, but I also think it’s a little [expletive]. They need to let us play, but there also needs to be control of the game, and I don’t think that, for the majority of the game tonight, these refs had control.”
When the injury occurred, Jackson was driving in the lane. She was bumped briefly by Nia Coffey, but Jackson only went down when she landed awkwardly on her planted leg. She stayed down on the floor for a while before being helped back to the locker room. As of this writing, the results of Jackson’s MRI have not been publicly disclosed.
The Los Angeles Sparks drafted Jackson fourth overall in the 2024 WNBA Draft. The Sparks traded her to the Sky on April 12. Jackson is Chicago’s leading scorer (18 points per game) so far this season. The Sky are 3-1 and will host the Dallas Wings for their home opener on Wednesday night.
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This story was originally published May 18, 2026 at 6:27 PM.