Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve left the WNBA with no choice Saturday afternoon when the league announced she would be suspended for Sunday\u2019s Game 4 against the Phoenix Mercury.<\/p>\n
Yes, the stakes are high. Reeve\u2019s top-seeded Lynx are down 2-1 in a best-of-five series, fighting to keep their season alive in a difficult road environment. But if Reeve, the league\u2019s longest-tenured coach, were not punished for Sunday\u2019s game, then what would ever constitute a coach\u2019s suspension?<\/p>\n
The WNBA rattled off a litany of reasons for Reeve\u2019s disciplinary action.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t just that she stormed after one of the game\u2019s three officials with 21.8 seconds remaining, furious at a no-call on Mercury star Alyssa Thomas. It wasn\u2019t just that she appeared to direct profanity at fans when exiting the court after her ejection. And it wasn\u2019t just that Reeve lambasted officials on the podium to reporters after Minnesota\u2019s 84-76 loss, in two minutes of commentary that was as animated as any coach\u2019s postgame remarks in recent memory.<\/p>\n
It was that all three things occurred.<\/p>\n
Even though the league made the right decision in suspending Reeve, many of her points were valid. Several coaches and executives around the league agreed with Reeve\u2019s frustration, both before and after Friday\u2019s incident, denouncing WNBA officiating as too inconsistent and sub-standard.<\/p>\n
\nIn the closing moments of the Phoenix Mercury\u2019s Game 3 win over the Minnesota Lynx, Alyssa Thomas came away with a steal to seal the victory.<\/p>\n
But Napheesa Collier seemed to roll her ankle on the play, and was seen in a wheelchair postgame. pic.twitter.com\/gY5yLiQG2l<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 27, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
Not punishing Reeve would seemingly create a precedent the WNBA doesn\u2019t want. It would have created Reeve Rules; that she (or any highly regarded coach) can say or do whatever they wanted in regard to officiating and not receive meaningful discipline. A one-game suspension to open next season? That would have been the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. A mere fine? A mere paper cut.<\/p>\n
The league couldn\u2019t ignore what happened on Friday night, and let her widely-seen diatribe and animated exit go without consequence.<\/p>\n
For years, league coaches and executives, both publicly and privately, have displeased with how WNBA freedom of movement rules are enforced (or rather, not enforced). The WNBA rule book has subsections regarding \u201cContact Situations,\u201d going into detail about incidental contact, screening, dribbling and guarding an opponent.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe restrictions placed upon the player by the rules are intended to create a balance of
play, equal opportunity for the defense and the offense, provide reasonable safety and
protection for all players and emphasize cleverness and skill without unduly limiting
freedom of action of players or teams,\u201d the rule book states.<\/p>\nAs evidenced by Reeve\u2019s remarks on Friday, she strongly disagrees that players are being protected. Any cleverness, she surely would argue, is diminished by opponent force. Skill is limited by physicality.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there\u2019s fights, and this is the look that our league wants for some reason,\u201d Reeve said. \u201cWe were trying to play through it. We try not to make excuses\u2026 And so if this is what our league wants, then OK, but I want to call for a change in leadership at the league-level when it comes to officiating. It\u2019s bad for the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon voiced a similar complaint \u2014 in a rare moment of unity between a white-tailed deer and elk. Hammon complained about the physicality before playing the Fever and again after a semifinals win against them.<\/p>\n
\n\u201cWe love our white deer\u201d \u2013 Cheryl Reeve \ud83d\udc4c\ud83e\udd23\ud83d\ude2dpic.twitter.com\/Pwhgyj9zGM<\/a><\/p>\n