Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve has received a one-game suspension for criticizing officials both before and after her ejection from Friday’s loss to the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals, the league announced Saturday.
The suspension will keep Reeve off the sideline of Sunday night’s win-or-go-home Game 4 against the Mercury.
Reeve was ejected in the final 30 seconds of Friday’s loss after stepping onto the court to argue with officials about Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who had just suffered an apparent injury following contact with Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas.
She, alongside assistant coaches Eric Thibault and Rebekkah Brunson, were also fined for their interactions and comments about officials, according to the WNBA.
The WNBA cited Reeve for “aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court” as well as “failure to leave the court in a timely manner” and comments made to fans and reporters after the game.
Reeve did not immediately leave the court after she was assessed her second technical foul of the night, continuing instead to argue with officials while being held back by staff members.
Videos shared on social media appeared to show Reeve saying “F–k you” to Mercury fans yelling at her as she exited the game.
Reeve then slammed the WNBA’s officiating leadership when speaking to reporters after the game.
“When you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there’s fights. And this is the look that our league wants, for some reason,” Reeve said Friday. “We were trying to play through it. We try not to make excuses. One of the best players in the league shot zero free throws. Zero. And she had five fouls. Zero free throws. Had her shoulder pulled out, and finished the game with her leg being taken out, and probably has a fracture.
“This is what our league wants, okay. But I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating. It’s bad for the game. The officiating we had for the game, tonight— for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff-worthy is f–king malpractice.”
The WNBA cited Thibault for an “inappropriate interaction with an official” and fined Brunson for criticizing the officials on social media.
The Lynx’s leadership isn’t the only coaching staff that has been critical of WNBA officiating during the semifinal round. Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon also criticized referees Friday after a Game 3 win over the Indiana Fever.
When asked about Aces star A’ja Wilson after the win, Hammon answered, “I thought she got hit a lot tonight. To shoot one free throw in 38 minutes— I know they told me not to say anything, but you know I can’t.”
Both Hammon and Fever head coach Stephanie White have criticized the officiating in their own semifinal series, but have stopped short of calling out officials as directly as Reeve.
Minnesota will now be left without Reeve, and potentially without Collier, as the Lynx fight to keep the team’s postseason hopes alive by claiming their first road win of the series Sunday night in Phoenix.
Discover more from 6up.net
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.