WNBA penalizes Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve with historic fine after playoff game outburst, ejection: report

On Saturday, the WNBA handed down its punishment for Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve following her actions during and after Friday’s playoff loss to the Phoenix Mercury.

Reeve was suspended for Game 4 of the semifinals series and ordered to pay a fine.

Late in the fourth quarter of Game 3, Reeve was seen aggressively pursuing a referee. Afterward, she appeared to engage in a verbal altercation with the game official. The Lynx were eliminated from contention after an 86-81 defeat Sunday.

On Tuesday, The Athletic reported that Reeve was fined $15,000.

The figure would be one of the largest fines the WNBA has ever issued. In 2021, Diana Taurasi was fined $2,500 for making illegal contact with a referee during a game in that year’s WNBA Finals.

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After her ejection last week, Reeve 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 left the court. She then took aim at the state of WNBA officiating in Friday’s postgame news conference.

“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 officials Friday night.

The play that drew Reeve’s ire was Alyssa Thomas stealing the ball from Napheesa Collier near the 3-point line and driving to the other end 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 did not elaborate on the injury.

Though Collier crashed to the court after the collision, the National Basketball Referees Association posted a highlight of the play on social media explaining why officials were correct not to blow the 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.”

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.

According to The Athletic, Thibault and Brunson were each issued $500 fines.

The outlet also reported that the league handed down fines of $1,000 to Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon and Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White, respectively. The discipline followed the coaches’ backing of Reeve and their vocal criticisms of officials.

“From what I heard, she did not tell a lie. She said the truth,” Hammon said before Sunday’s Lynx-Mercury semifinals game. “I think something has to change.

“When players are in vulnerable positions, such as jumping or running full speed, I think you have to protect them. You have to protect your product. If that was LeBron James or that was Shai Gilgeous-Alexander or somebody like that, they would protect some of those players.”

Meanwhile, White asserted that Reeve “made a lot of valid points” and noted that “at some point, there has to be some accountability.”

WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert addressed 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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