Cheryl Reeve Earned Harsh WNBA Punishment for Abusive Lynx vs Mercury Actions
Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had a crash out that will be remembered for years to come during her team's September 26 WNBA Semifinals defeat to the Phoenix Mercury.
Lynx star and 2025 WNBA MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier had the ball stolen from her by Mercury star Alyssa Thomas with about 30 seconds remaining in Friday's game. Thomas had clear contact with Collier's leg, which both injured Collier and allowed Thomas to secure the steal, which ultimately led to a Mercury layup that sealed their victory.
Reeve was furious about this no-call. She stormed the court and looked ready to engage in a fist fight with one of the referees before she was held back by several members of her staff. After unsuccessful attempts to calm Reeve down, she eventually went back to her team's locker room (while cussing out Mercury fans) so the game could conclude.
And Reeve's tirade didn't end there. When speaking with the media after the game ended, Reeve admonished the WNBA for its officiating, saying, among many things, "I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating. It's bad for the game. The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinals playoff worthy is f****** malpractice."
- “This is the look our league wants.. for some reason”
— Rachel A DeMita (@RADeMita) September 27, 2025
- Napheesa Collier “probably has a fracture”
- Calls for a change in leadership at the league level
- refs that were chosen for Semi-Finals Game 3 = “f’ing malpractice”
Cheryl Reeve 🫡pic.twitter.com/go9NUN5bFa
WNBA Reveals Cheryl Reeve Suspended for Game 3 Actions
If there was ever a clear case for someone to be suspended, it was what Reeve did during Friday's game. And it didn't take the WNBA long to announce that Reeve was indeed suspended for Game 4 on September 28, which was revealed in a September 27 press release.
In the release, the league said Reeve's suspension was owed to, "Aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection...
inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court, and remarks made in a postgame press conference," per an X post from Kendra Andrews of ESPN.
In addition to her suspension, Reeve and her assistant coaches Eric Thibault and Rebekkah Brunson have all been fined an undisclosed amount.
BREAKING: the WNBA has suspended Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve for Game 4 of the semifinals pic.twitter.com/BGffqBEODH
— Kendra Andrews (@kendra__andrews) September 27, 2025
While many fans found what Reeve did funny, the league office certainly isn't seeing it that way. Reeve had to expect this was coming after her actions on Friday, and one would assume she wouldn't be putting up any fight in contesting this suspension.
What's for sure is that the Lynx are not in a great spot to be without their head coach and two assistants, as they'll be fighting for their playoff lives on Sunday.
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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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