Chicago Sky forward Rickea Jackson will miss the rest of the 2026 season with an ACL tear, the team announced Tuesday. This comes just two days after Jackson suffered a non-contact injury against the Minnesota Lynx.
Following the game, Jackson’s teammate, Natasha Cloud, called out the contest’s three referees by name during a press conference, saying that the injury could have been prevented with better officiating.
“The ultimate job is to control and protect the players in this game. And I think that this group today failed to do so,” Cloud said. “They failed to protect Rickea, they failed to control the game.”
Cloud said that she was “popped in the face” and told officials that the game was getting out of hand, and that on the subsequent play, there were “hands all over Rickea.” After Jackson’s injury, Cloud was issued a technical foul for yelling at the officials.
During the second-quarter play where Jackson was hurt, she briefly bumped into the Lynx’s Nia Coffey while dribbling up the court, but then her left knee buckled before she fell down. Jackson had to be helped to the locker room and did not return for the rest of the game.
“I will be damned if a player gets hurt on our team. That was something that was controllable by the referees, that was part of their job, and there was no foul call as well,” Cloud said.
Officiating has been a major point of emphasis to kick off the 2026 WNBA season, after commissioner Cathy Englebert created a task force to address it. With that task force came tighter calls—through the league’s first 11 games this season, teams averaged 22.3 fouls per game compared to 17.5 last season.
However, figures like Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, Breanna Stewart, and Azzi Fudd have already complained about the increasing number of calls to start the season. Reeve specifically said that officials were calling “marginal fouls” when the issue at hand was more about “unnecessary physicality.”
Cloud, on the other hand, seemingly feels that there aren’t enough calls. She also said that the Sky would send footage from the Lynx game to the WNBA for review. Neither the league nor the Sky has confirmed whether she has been fined for her statements.
“The points of emphasis is great, but I also think it’s a little bullshit, they need to let us play but there also needs to be control of the game,” Cloud said. “I don’t think for the majority of the game tonight these refs had control.”
Cloud and Jackson are both new additions to the Sky roster, which experienced one of the largest turnovers within the league. Jackson was traded from the Sparks in exchange for Ariel Atkins, while Cloud signed with the Sky just five days before their season opening.
Representatives for Cloud have not responded to a request for comment.
