Cheryl Reeve goes nuclear on refs after WNBA Finals: ‘This s— was stolen from us’

BROOKLYN — Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve emphatically blasted officiating after falling to the New York Liberty in the deciding Game 5 of the WNBA Finals.

“All the headlines will read ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Bring it on. Bring it on,” Reeve said at the conclusion of a long-winded rant in which she laid out her grievances with the refereeing. “Because this shit was stolen from us.”

Reeve, the most decorated coach in WNBA history, decried the fact that a foul was called on Alanna Smith at the end of regulation — and that it wasn’t overturned after a coach’s challenge.

With Minnesota leading by 2 with 5 seconds, Breanna Stewart drove to the basket, and Alanna Smith was called for a foul.

Reeve challenged the play, but the call was upheld. Stewart subsequently sank two free throws to tie things up and force overtime.

“We have got to change our challenge rules — and the officials doing the game should have a third party, because that was not a foul,” an emphatic Reeve said at the podium. “That call should have been reversed on that challenge, if we sent that clip in. Guaranteed. Guaranteed.”

Reeve also wasn’t pleased with the overall discrepancy in free throws between the Liberty and the Lynx in Game 5; Minnesota attempted 8 free throws and was called for 21 fouls, while New York attempted 25 free throws and was called for 17.

“This shit ain’t that hard,” Reeve said. “Officiating — it’s not that hard. When someone is being held, be consistent. If you don’t want to call… on one end, don’t call it on the other. Be consistent.”

Part of Reeve’s frustration was with the fact that Collier didn’t attempt a single free throw, while Stewart, who was matched up with her for most of the night, attempted 8. Collier ultimately fouled out in overtime, while Lynx guard Bridget Carleton played the extra period with five fouls. At the same time, no Liberty starter racked up more than 3 fouls.

“I don’t get how she [Napheesa] can be held, and go to the basket, and get hit and then a marginal [foul] — at best, at best — sends their best player to the free throw line,” Reeve said. “That’s tough to swallow. That’s tough to swallow.”

Collier seemed to agree with her coach postgame. When asked about why she was more effective in the first quarter (10 points) than later in the game (she scored 12 points in the final three quarters), she pointed to herself getting fouled as well.

“Probably because I was getting held a little bit,” Collier said. “It was a little hard to make shots.”

Though Game 5 reached a boiling point in officiating frustration, both coaches have complained about refereeing throughout the series. After Game 3, Reeve noted she felt the calls favored the Liberty, and after Game 4, it was Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello who pleaded her case. In that Game 4, the free throw disparity was reversed; the Liberty attempted just 9 free throws, while the Lynx attempted 20.

“Cheryl talked about it last time, but we got no calls today,” said an uncharacteristically furious Brondello after the Liberty’s 72-70 Game 4 loss. “Do I need to talk up in a press conference?”

Reeve acknowledged that the fact that coaches were unhappy with the officiating in three of the five Finals games was an issue.

“It’s a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this,” Reeve said after the Game 5 loss. “Obviously, there’s always going to be a team that’s going to be a little more disappointed than the other. I thought today was incredibly disappointing.”

But, asked about Reeve’s officiating complaint, Brondello said she felt the officiating was “pretty fair” and said that the Liberty should have won Game 1.

Reeve also said she felt that her team doesn’t complain to the offials as much as other teams do, and that their lack of complaining sometimes comes at their expense.

“It just doesn’t feel right that you lose a series with that level of discrepancy,” Reeve said. “And we don’t have a team that whines and complains and all that stuff, and sometimes it probably hurts us.”

A number of current and former NBA players watching the WNBA Finals game also criticized the late-game foul on Alanna Smith, including Damian Lillard, Lebron James, and Isaiah Thomas.

“Congratulations to the Liberty on their first championship,” Reeve deadpanned at the podium after airing out her grievances with officiating.

“It took them 28 years. Congrats to them. We were that close to our fifth. It just didn’t happen, right? It’s disappointing. It’s incredibly disappointing.”