Frustration with WNBA officiating boils over for Aces’ Hammon, Lynx coach

Aces coach Becky Hammon used her best restraint when commenting on WNBA officiating in her team’s 84-72 playoffs win over the Indiana Fever on Friday night.

The same can’t be said for rival Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who took Hammon’s frustrations a step further Friday night by getting ejected from an 84-76 loss to the Phoenix Mercury and then accusing the league of “(expletive) malpractice” for the referees they assigned to Game 3 of her team’s semifinals series.

The Aces lead 2-1 in their best-of-five series with Game 4 at noon Sunday at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, while the No. 1-seeded Lynx trail 2-1 in their series.

The WNBA hit Reeve with a one-game suspension Saturday. It’s a decision that could prove pivotal in the Lynx’s battle to reach the WNBA Finals, and an outcome the Aces’ PR team seemed to be actively looking to prevent both times Hammon addressed reporters Friday.

When Hammon was asked during her pregame news conference what kind of physicality she expected to see in Game 3 of the Aces’ second-round series with the Fever, she paused for several moments before an Aces staffer chimed in “No fines!”

“That’s a loaded question, sir,” Hammon finally answered. “It’ll be what the refs allow it to be.”

Hammon’s hesitance and brevity likely came from the league’s response to her comments following the Aces’ 90-68 Game 2 win over the Fever on Tuesday night, in which she said the officials allowed physicality in that series and the Fever’s first-round series against the Atlanta Dream to spiral “out of control.” The league, however, would not confirm or deny whether Hammon was penalized.

“Most of my assistants come from the NBA, and they’re like, ‘This would not fly in the NBA. This level of physicality would not fly in the NBA. There’d be fights,’ ” Hammon said Tuesday. “We just have very well-mannered women that can get to the next play.”

Reeve heard the aforementioned comments from Hammon, and referenced them Friday during an expletive-laden news conference that ended without taking questions from reporters.

“You’re hearing it from the other series. You’re hearing other coaches. You’re hearing Becky talk about when you let the physicality happen, people get hurt, there’s fights,” Reeve said to open her comments.

‘Bad for the game’

This came after Mercury guard Alyssa Thomas stole the ball from Lynx forward Napheesa Collier in the final seconds of the fourth quarter and ran through her legs to seal the win with a layup.

No foul was called as Collier was left on the floor in pain, and Reeve had to be held back as she ran onto the court in pursuit of one of the referees.

The play has been controversial, with many debating whether a foul should have been called on Thomas. The official X.com account for the NBA’s referees, which does not appear to have weighed in on any other WNBA action this season, shared the clip and supported the real-time judgment due to the leg contact being “incidental.”

Collier, the MVP runner-up behind Aces star A’ja Wilson, finished with 17 points on 8-of-15 shooting. Reeve seemed to take issue with the officiating decisions that were made before Collier was hurt more than anything else and said that Collier’s ankle injury was “probably a fracture.” She was ruled out for Sunday’s game with no further information on the injury.

“We were trying to play through it. We tried not to make excuses. One of the best players in the league shot zero free throws. Zero. And she had five fouls. Zero free throws. Got her shoulder pulled out and finished the game with her leg being taken out,” Reeve said. “If this is what our league wants, OK. But I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level. When it comes to officiating, it’s bad for the game.”

Hammon offered a similar, albeit more restrained, sentiment after Wilson finished with 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting and four fouls Friday against the Fever.

“I thought she got hit a lot tonight. To just shoot one free throw in 38 minutes … they told me not to say anything. But you know, I can’t,” Hammon said.

Reeve was certainly punished for more than her comments, but it seems safe to say that Hammon will keep trying to tread lightly in her critiques of the referees with her team needing just one more win Sunday against the Fever to secure a return to the WNBA Finals.

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.