Cheryl Reeve Shines a Light on WNBA’s Ongoing Officiating Issue

By now, you’ve seen the video clips, you’ve heard the post-game comments and you’ve seen the reactions from many across the sports world about what took place in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals between the Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury on Friday night.

And unfortunately, it’s not centered around the back-and-forth battle we are witnessing between Minnesota and Phoenix in the semifinals round like it should be.

On Friday, the Mercury came away with an 84-76 win over the Lynx in Game 3, a series-swinging game that resulted in Phoenix now owning a 2-1 series lead entering a potential series-clinching Game 4 on Sunday in the best-of-five series.

But with 21 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 3, a moment occurred that many have and will continue to talk about. After inbounding the ball, Napheesa Collier began driving into the lane from atop the key when Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas stole the ball and made contact with Collier, resulting in Collier in pain on the ground with no foul called.

After Thomas’ layup on the other end of the floor, essentially sealing the victory for Phoenix, Cheryl Reeve and the Lynx coaching staff noticed Collier on the ground noticeably in pain after suffering what appeared to be an ankle injury that Reeve said after the game was “probably a fracture.” That set off a reaction by Reeve that has grabbed all of the headlines.

Reeve stormed onto the court, already having received a technical earlier in the game, and began arguing with the official about the lack of a foul call. That interaction resulted in Reeve getting ejected from the game while being held back by members of the Lynx staff before she ultimately left the floor.

After the game, Reeve didn’t hold back when discussing not only that play, but the WNBA officiating as a whole.

“If this is what the league wants, OK. But I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating,” Reeve said after the game. “The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinal-playoff worthy, it’s f***ing malpractice.”

Regardless of your view on that singular play or the officiating at large, this frustration for Reeve isn’t just with one play or one game. It spans back much farther than that, and the officiating has been an issue not only this entire semifinals series, but the season in its entirety — especially when it comes to how Collier is officiated.

And quite frankly, it’s extremely unfortunate that officials are continuing to play this big of a role in deciding games that should be decided by players on the court.

The reaction that Reeve and the Lynx had in Game 3 isn’t just about one game or about one play. Reeve’s reaction at the end of the game and after when speaking to the media wasn’t just because Collier saw contact and got hurt. This is a much bigger issue that has gone on for far too long, and Reeve’s frustration is justified. The entire season — even more so when the stage is the biggest in the playoffs — teams have had issues with officiating impacting the course of games.

From lack of calls, too many calls, inconsistency in how officiating crews call games — even from half to half — to officials putting their mark on games with emotion-based calls. And this isn’t just a Lynx thing, this is an issue nearly every team has brought to light this season and in the postseason.

“The physicality’s out of control for sure,” Las Vegas coach Becky Hammon said during the playoffs. “You can bump and grab a wide receiver in the NFL for those first five yards, but you can do it in the W for the whole half court. You put two hands on somebody, it should be an automatic foul. The freedom of movement? There’s no freedom. I’m not saying we’re not fouling, too. I’m not saying that. I’m saying it’s out of control.”

When it comes specifically to Minnesota, it had 16.4 fouls drawn during the regular season, which was tied for the least amount in the WNBA. In the the playoffs alone, Minnesota ranks seventh out of eight teams in fouls drawn with 14.4 per game.

As for Collier, a player who likes to drive into the paint and also create contact, she has 3.4 fouls drawn per game so far this postseason and has shot a total of two — yes two — free throws in three games against Phoenix in the semifinals. To compare to other star players, Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson has 7.2 fouls drawn in six games, New York’s Breanna Stewart had 6.0 fouls drawn in three games and Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas has had 4.5 fouls drawn over six games. For whatever reason, Collier just doesn’t get the calls that other MVP caliber players do — and it’s been something that has gone on for years.

“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 after Game 3. “One of the best players in the league (Collier) shot zero free throws (in Game 3). Zero. She had five fouls. Zero free throws. … It’s bad for the game.”

For Lynx fans, officiating — or the lack thereof — has been an issue that spans back years, most recently in the 2024 WNBA Finals. This isn’t new to Minnesota or its fans, but it is something that is an ongoing issue for every team — the Lynx have just so happen to have those issues occur on the biggest and brightest of stages.

It’s one thing to call a game consistently a certain way. That allows teams to adjust and know what to expect with the style of play a game. But it’s another thing to call a game one way and then completely change things up like we’ve seen on numerous occasions in the postseason, during Lynx games and other games that have taken place thus far.

And when it comes to physicality, if you are going to let players play the way that they did in Game 3 between Minnesota and Phoenix, with physicality and the lack of keeping that under control, players and teams are going to feed into that style of play, especially in the playoffs and when the game comes down to the wire. And that only puts players’ health and safety at risk.

“We’ve talked about how dangerous it can be,” Reeve said before Game 3. “And you’re hearing it from the other series. You’re hearing from other coaches. You’re hearing Becky (Hammon) talk about it. When you let the physicality happen, people get hurt.”

The inconsistencies of officiating have impacted games. No, one call doesn’t decide a game. But the calls, non-calls or unnecessary technical fouls because officials lets their emotions get the best of them, those can seriously impact a game, impact a series and can swing momentum. And when officials get in the way of the action on the court, notably in the final minutes or seconds, that can ultimately decide a game.

Teams across the WNBA are just asking for consistency in officiating so they aren’t getting into the way of impacting games. Because that is what is happening, officials are starting to impact games. And it’s unfortunate because that should be decided by the teams and players who are on the court.

This isn’t a Lynx issue. This isn’t just a Reeve or Collier issue. This is a league-wide issue, and something the WNBA time and time again has refused to address. And something has to change, once and for all.