Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve blasts WNBA refs after Napheesa Collier injury
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was ejected and escorted off the court in her team’s Game 3 loss to the Mercury before going on a rant about the league’s officiating in her postgame news conference.
Her anger was largely prompted by an injury to Napheesa Collier in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.
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Collier hobbled to the bench after her left leg made contact with Mercury guard Alyssa Thomas, with Reeve saying afterward that the ankle injury was “probably a fracture” without elaborating.
“If this is what the league wants, OK, but I want to call for a change in leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating,” Reeve said following the 84-76 defeat. “The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem these people semifinal-playoff worthy, it’s f–king malpractice.”
The top-seeded Lynx did not give an official update on Collier’s status, and are now down 2-1 in the semifinals series.
After Thomas scored following the injury, Reeve ran onto the court to berate one of the officials and had to be held back by two assistant coaches and guard Natisha Hiedeman. On her way off the court, Reeve shouted at fans.
In her news conference, in which she did not take questions, Reeve was furious that Collier did not attempt a single free throw.
“We were trying to play through it, trying not to make excuses, but one of the best players in the league, she had zero free throws and she had five fouls,” Reeve said. “She had her shoulder pulled out and finished the game with her leg being taken out.”
This is not the first time Reeve has blamed officials for a playoff loss.
In Game 5 of the WNBA Finals last season against the Liberty, she memorably proclaimed that, “This s–t was stolen from us.”
On Friday, she said: “I can take an L with the best of them. I don’t think we should have to play through what we did.”
She added before walking out of the press conference that the officials were “f–king awful.”
The Lynx face elimination in Game 4 on Sunday.
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