Cheryl Reeve Gets Put on Time Out by WNBA

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Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Two things happened to the Minnesota Lynx on Friday night. They dropped their semifinals Game 3 against the Phoenix Mercury, and Cheryl Reeve went scored earth. She was ejected from the game, and had more to say after.

The news Lynx fans have been waiting for on Saturday is an update to the condition of superstar Napheesa Collier after she had to be helped off the court. The news they got was regarding the status of Reeve for Game 4.

WNBA suspends Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve

After a colossal collapse at home in Game 2, the stakes could not have been higher for the MN Lynx on Friday night. As they closed in on a Game 3 loss, Cheryl Reeve had enough after watching Napheesa Collier go down in a heap. She let the referees have it, and then let them have it more in her postgame press conference.

The WNBA said enough.

After the foul, Reeve was handed her second technical and she didn’t leave in any sort of a hurry. She then called out the league and its leadership postgame. Apparently the WNBA didn’t like that too much. Reeve is now barred from coaching the Minnesota Lynx in an elimination game, on the road, Sunday.

Beyond the suspension, Reeve and assistant coaches Eric Thibault and Rebekkah Brunson were all fined for their actions.

It’s understandable that Reeve would be upset given how the game was officiated as a whole. Her star shot zero free throws, and Minnesota had just 11 as a team. The Mercury took 22 free throws on the night.

WNBA gets support while being called out for MN Lynx

On Saturday the official X (formerly Twitter) account of NBA referees offered support of the crew that Reeve berated. They stated, “the leg to leg contact is incidental once the ball is clearly loose.”

The Ringer’s Bill Simmons called it the opposite way, and he brought receipts.

Even if that no-call against Collier was correct, the refereeing was questionable at best all night. That goes back to a sequence in last year’s WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty in which Minnesota was absolutely screwed over.

The league’s commission, Cathy Engelbert, showed up in a dress supporting the Liberty to sit courtside. On X, the WNBA’s official account also put out a shady tweet following the Liberty’s win.

Reeve has some serious flaws. She dislikes Caitlin Clark way too much, even if she was right about Angel Reese. Certainly though, she’s not afraid to speak her mind, and now that cost her what could be the final game of the season.

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