WNBA suspends Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve 1 game for behavior and comments in playoff loss to Mercury
The WNBA suspended Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve for one game for her behavior and comments during and following the Lynx’s 84-76 loss to the Phoenix Mercury on Friday night.
“Her conduct and comments included aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection with 21.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court, and remarks made in a post-game press conference,” the league said in a statement Saturday.
Reeve, who was also fined, will serve the suspension on Sunday when the Lynx play the Mercury in Game 4 of the teams’ semifinals series in Phoenix. Minnesota trails the best-of-five series 2-1.
It’s believed to be the first time in the history of the WNBA that a coach has been suspended for a playoff game.
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.
In her postgame rant, Reeve called for the WNBA to make changes at the league level when it comes to officiating. Monty McCutchen is the head of WNBA officiating, and Sue Blauch is the head of referee performance and development for the league.
Reeve, however, focused her anger on the three game officials from Friday night: Isaac Barnett, Randy Richardson and Jenna Reneau.
“The officiating crew that we had tonight — for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy — is (expletive) malpractice,” Reeve said.
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. Collier will also miss Game 4 with what the team announced as a left ankle injury.
Though Collier crashed to the court after the players collided, the National Basketball Referees Association posted a highlight of the play on X with its description of why officials were correct to not 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.”