‘This Sh*t Was Stolen From Us!’ Minnesota Lynx Coach GOES OFF on Refs After WNBA Finals Loss

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve didn’t hold back in her brutal assessment of the officiating after her team lost the WNBA Finals on Sunday.

The New York Liberty captured their first championship in franchise history with a 67-62 overtime win over the Lynx in Game 5. In the final seconds of the fourth quarter, the Liberty trailed two when star forward Breanna Stewart was fouled on a shot attempt. The Lynx challenged the call, but officials confirmed the foul after reviewing it. Stewart made both free throws to tie the game and send it into OT.

Although the call wasn’t overturned by the refs, many viewers — and Reeve — considered the foul call questionable at best. Adding to the frustration of the call was the fact before it happened, Stewart clearly committed a traveling violation.

Had that violation been called, a Lynx victory would have been virtually guaranteed.

In the post-game press conference, Reeve flatly asserted that Stewart was not fouled on the final play of regulation. Minutes later, while talking about the play of Liberty center Nyara Sabally, Reeve predicted how her comments would be received and decided to double down.

“And I know all the headlines will be, ‘Reeve cries foul,'” she said. “Bring it on. Bring it on. Because this shit was stolen from us. Bring it on.”

While Reeves acknowledged there were things that her team could have done better, she explained why she felt officiating played too much of a role in the winner-take-all Game 5:

Well, we talked about it, you know. We know we could have done some things right; but you shouldn’t have to overcome to that extent. This shit ain’t that hard. Officiating, it’s not that hard. When someone is being held, be consistent. If you don’t want to call holding on one end, then don’t call it at the other. Be consistent. Every team asks for that, right? [Liberty coach Sandy Brondello] asked for that last game. Three of the games in the series, we’re talking about the same damn thing!

So, I tell these guys, you know, for whatever reason, it didn’t work out. It just doesn’t feel right that you lose a series with that level of discrepancy. And we don’t have a team that whines and complains and, you know, all that stuff and, you know, sometimes it probably hurts us. Maybe being a little more — I don’t know — something; but, I mean, I just think that [when] you have a star player like [Lynx forward Napheesa Collier] I just — I don’t get it. I don’t get how she can be held and go to the basket and get hit; and then a marginal at best — at best — sends their best player to the free throw line. That’s, I mean, that’s just, that’s tough.

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