Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve did not hold back in her postgame press conference following the Minnesota Lynx’s Game 3 loss to the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of their WNBA Semifinals series on Friday night.
Reeve was ejected in the final minute after running onto the court to get into the face of the officials after Mercury star Alyssa Thomas made contact with Lynx star Napheesa Collier’s knee on a steal that caused her ankle to roll.
Collier walked with a limp back to the locker room. A team source told FWRD AXIS News the fear is Collier suffered a serious injury.
In her post game interview, Reeve revealed Collier may have potentially sustained a fracture while also dealing with a lingering shoulder issue.
As she entered the interview room, a fuming Reeve unloaded on the officials and the WNBA as a whole for two straight minutes and left without taking questions.
“This is the look that our league wants, for some reason. We were trying to play through it, we tried not to make excuses,” Reeve said. “One of the best players in the league shot zero free throws. Zero, and she had five fouls. Zero free throws. Got her shoulder pulled out and finished the game with her leg being taken out, and probably has a fracture.”
“The officiating crew that we had for tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy is fucking malpractice,” she added. “I can take an L with the best of them. I don’t think we should have to play through more than what they did… And all of them decided ‘It wasn’t my call, I don’t know, I didn’t see it that way.’ They’re fucking awful.”
Reeve will almost certainly be fined for her comments and she isn’t the only head coach in the WNBA who feels this way. Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon spoke out against the officiating after her team’s win over the Indiana Fever in their semifinal series on Tuesday.
“Most of my assistants come from the NBA, and they’re like, ‘This would not fly in the NBA. This level of physicality would not fly in the NBA. There’d be fights. There’d be fights,’” Hammon said.
“We just have very well-mannered women that can get to the next play, but there would be fights,” she added. “I’m not concerned, because I know we’ll keep our composure. But I mean, I don’t understand. I don’t get it.”