Candace Parker Reveals Why She Has No Sympathy For Cheryl Reeve
While the Minnesota Lynx are now eliminated from the 2025 WNBA postseason, the way in which they met their exit will be remembered and discussed for a long time.
Minnesota secured a Game 1 win against the Phoenix Mercury before dropping Game 2 at home, thus evening the series at 1-1 as it went back to Phoenix. The controversy came in the final moments of Game 3, when Alyssa Thomas made contact with Napheesa Collier while stealing a ball. This contact (which injured Collier) was not called as a foul, which allowed Thomas to make a layup that essentially sealed the Mercury's win.
This play prompted a now-iconic crash-out from Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, who stormed the court to scream at the referee who didn't call a foul on Thomas. Reeve then got ejected, had to be escorted out of the arena by members of her staff and security, and then went on a verbal tirade against the WNBA and its officiating when speaking to the media afterward.
Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said Napheesa Collier “probably has a fracture.”
— Desert Wave Media (@DesertWaveCo) September 27, 2025
Reeve did not take any questions from reporters and said the referees were “fucking awful.”#WNBA pic.twitter.com/BtbimmJUg7
As a result of what she did and said, Reeve was suspended for Game 4 (which Minnesota lost, thus eliminating them) and was fined $15,000.
Candace Parker Explains Why She Doesn't Feel Bad for Cheryl Reeve
The Reeve incident has sparked a lot of commentary about WNBA officials and whether what Reeve did was warranted. WNBA legend Candace Parker weighed in with an interesting take during a September 30 episode of her Post Moves podcast with Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston.
"My mouth almost hit the floor when I was watching her postgame press conference live," Parker said. "She dropped more f-bombs, and challenged... But she knew there was no way the WNBA was gonna let her coach the next game. There was absolutely no way, after you sit up there, and talk about the game was malpractice, and change was needed at the league level, regarding its referee hiring and selection."
Parker later added, "I mean, I definitely don't ever feel bad for Cheryl Reeve, because she does have, what, four WNBA championships? So I don't feel bad for her. But at the same time, you always want to end the series with everybody healthy. You want whoever wins, or whoever loses, to be fully stacked, so there's no ifs, ands, or buts."
In other words, it seems that Parker would feel worse for Reeve if she were seeking her first WNBA championship. But because that's far from the case, Parker ultimately isn't lamenting her suspension and ensuing Lynx exit.
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Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.
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