LAS VEGAS — Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve’s outburst about officiating after Napheesa Collier’s injury in Game 3 of the WNBA semifinals and her subsequent Game 4 suspension has cost her a fine of $15,000, a league source told The Athletic on Monday. Reeve charged at an official during the game, appeared to direct profanity at the Phoenix crowd on her way out and called for “change in leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating.” Reeve’s assistants, Eric Thibault and Rebekkah
Reeve’s assistants, Eric Thibault and Rebekkah Brunson, were both fined $500 for their roles in the incident. Friday, two more coaches, Stephanie White and Becky Hammon of the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces, landed fines of $1,000, the league source said. Their fines came after they expressed support for Reeve’s viewpoint about physicality and a systemic officiating problem before Game 4 of the semifinal series between Indiana and Las Vegas.
“I think that she made a lot of valid points,” White said Sunday. “A lot of the same kind of conversations are happening. It’s happening from every team, from every franchise, from every coach, from every player. And I think at some point there has to be some accountability.”
She added, “Every part of our league has gotten better, and that part has lagged behind, for whatever reason.”
Hammon was equally on board with the league’s longest-tenured coach.
“From what I heard, (Reeve) did not tell a lie. She said the truth,” she said.
Per the WNBA’s press release, “Thibault was fined for his inappropriate interaction with an official on the court. Brunson was fined for an inappropriate social media comment directed at WNBA officials.” The league historically does not publicize fines.
This is at least the third instance that White has been fined this season for her remarks about officiating. Hammon is also not a first-time offender.
(Photo: Rick Scuteri / Imagn Images)
This article originally appeared in The Athletic.
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