Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve hit with record $15,000 fine for officiating outburst
TOI World Desk | TOI Global Desk | Sep 30, 2025, 23:47 IST
Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was fined $15,000 and suspended for Game 4 after confronting officials during the semifinals loss to the Phoenix Mercury. The WNBA cited her verbal abuse of referees and postgame remarks. Indiana’s Stephanie White and Las Vegas’ Becky Hammon were also fined for supporting Reeve’s criticism of officiating.
Cheryl Reeve, the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx, has been fined $15000 by the WNBA for calling out the WNBA officials after the Lynx's loss to the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of the semifinal series. The Phoenix Mercury advanced to the WNBA finals after defeating the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in Game 4 of the semifinal series.
Reeve stormed onto the court, arguing with the officials for not calling a foul on Alyssa Thomas, who bumped into the Lynx guard Napheesa Collier while attempting a steal that resulted in Collier's injury. She was dragged off the court after refusing to leave the court.
The league released a statement on Saturday saying, “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.”
Besides the fine, Reeve was suspended by the WNBA for Game 4, which resulted in a season-ending loss for the Lynx and also marked the first time a coach has been suspended from a postseason game in the history of the WNBA.
"When you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there’s fights, and this is the look that our league wants for some reason. We were trying to play through it, trying not to make excuses,” Reeve said in the post-game interview. "The officiating crew that we had tonight — for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy — is (expletive) malpractice."
In addition to this, both the Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and the Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon were also fined $1000 each for backing up Reeve’s comments and for criticising the league's officiating.
Reeve stormed onto the court, arguing with the officials for not calling a foul on Alyssa Thomas, who bumped into the Lynx guard Napheesa Collier while attempting a steal that resulted in Collier's injury. She was dragged off the court after refusing to leave the court.
The league released a statement on Saturday saying, “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.”
Besides the fine, Reeve was suspended by the WNBA for Game 4, which resulted in a season-ending loss for the Lynx and also marked the first time a coach has been suspended from a postseason game in the history of the WNBA.
"When you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there’s fights, and this is the look that our league wants for some reason. We were trying to play through it, trying not to make excuses,” Reeve said in the post-game interview. "The officiating crew that we had tonight — for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy — is (expletive) malpractice."
In addition to this, both the Indiana Fever head coach Stephanie White and the Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon were also fined $1000 each for backing up Reeve’s comments and for criticising the league's officiating.