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The WNBA handed down its punishment for Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve following her actions during and after Friday’s playoff game.
Reeve will be suspended for the team’s next postseason game and ordered to pay an undisclosed fine. The Lynx are scheduled to play Game 4 of their semifinals series on Sunday.
Late in the fourth quarter of Game 3 against the Phoenix Mercury, Reeve was seen aggressively pursuing a referee. After the pursuit, Reeve appeared to engage in a verbal altercation with the game official.
After her ejection, the Lynx head coach refused to leave the court in a reasonable timeframe. There were just over 21 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter at the time Reeve was tossed.
Reeve also appeared to direct comments toward fans as she eventually left the court.
After the Lynx suffered an 84-76 loss to the Mercury, Reeve went on a lengthy rant in the postgame press conference.
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In her postgame rant, Reeve called for the WNBA to make changes at the league level when it comes to officiating.
“If this is what the league wants, OK, but I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating,” Reeve said. “The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinal-playoff worthy, it’s f—ing malpractice.”
Isaac Barnett, Randy Richardson and Jenna Reneau were the three game officials from Friday night.
Minnesota assistant coaches Eric Thibault and Rebekkah Brunson also were fined by the league. Thibault was fined for his inappropriate interaction with an official on the court. Brunson was fined for an inappropriate social media comment directed at WNBA officials.
The play that drew Reeve’s ire was Alyssa Thomas stealing the ball from Napheesa Collier near the 3-point line and going toward the other end of the court for the game-sealing layup.
Collier injured her leg on the play and had to be helped to the locker room. Reeve said Collier “probably has a fracture,” though she didn’t elaborate on the injury.
Though Collier crashed to the court after the players collided, the National Basketball Referees Association posted a highlight of the play on social media with its description of why officials were correct not to blow their whistle.
“This is NOT a foul,” the post said. “Thomas legally gets to the ball and knocks the ball loose prior to any contact. The leg to leg contact is incidental once the ball is clearly loose.”
There have been several complaints about WNBA officiating this season. WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed the league’s officiating during All-Star Weekend in July.
“As we go forward on the officiating, we hear the concerns. We take that employee input,” Engelbert said. “Every play is reviewed. We spend hours and hours and hours. Obviously, we use that then to follow up with officials’ training.
“Consistency is important. I think some people observe our game versus other basketball formats (and think) there aren’t a ton of fouls called, but I realize consistency is the name of the game.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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