Cheryl Reeve had to know this was coming.
In the waning moments of Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals on Friday night, the longtime Minnesota Lynx head coach was ejected after exploding at an official over a non-call on the final play of the game. Reeve was ejected, but still took the podium for her usual postgame press conference, at which point she unleashed on the WNBA and its referees in an all-time, expletive-laden rant.
The WNBA announced Saturday that it will suspend Reeve for Game 4 on Sunday evening.
In a press release, the league wrote that Reeve’s punishment was the result of the entire confluence of actions late in Game 3 and after the buzzer:
“Her conduct and comments included aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection with 21.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court, and remarks made in a post-game press conference.”
Live on ESPN and YouTube after Game 3, Reeve called for change at the league level when it comes to referee oversight. Echoing a similar (though more family-friendly) criticism after last year’s WNBA Finals, Reeve questioned why the WNBA wants the on-court product to be so physical at the expense of player safety, calling the referees’ approach “f*cking malpractice” and their Game 3 officiating “f*cking awful.”
Reeve did not take questions.
According to the league’s statement, Reeve’s top assistants Eric Thibault and Rebekkah Brunson were also each fined for their response to the end of Game 3.
The Lynx will be without Reeve in Phoenix on Sunday at 8 p.m. ET with their season on the line. Minnesota will also be without star forward Napheesa Collier, whose ankle injury on the final play led Reeve to be so critical of the league and its officials.
Reeve suggested Collier may have fractured her ankle on the collision with the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas.