The heat of the ongoing officiating drama has now reached the Fever-Aces semifinals game. Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve ignited this fire following a controversial call against her team versus the Mercury. Napheesa Collier suffered contact from Alyssa Thomas and seemingly rolled her ankle, and yet a foul was not called. While the physicality in Game 4 of Indiana vs Las Vegas is in check, it did not stop analysts present there from discussing it.

While Becky Hammon took a challenge during the third quarter, ABC commentator and analyst Rebecca Lobo touched upon the officiating woes, stating, “I’ve talked to coaches throughout this season, a lot of coaches about this exact thing. The thing that keeps getting brought up is freedom of movement. And not just with players having the ball in hand, but often it’s [about if] they’re able to move when the ball is not in their hands.”

Coaches like Hammon, Stephanie White, Reeve, and a number of other names have regularly called out this reduced threshold of calling fouls in the WNBA this season, and things have not improved despite repeated public calls.

Lobo continued, “This is a league where you want to reward the skilled and not just the strong. And so what I personally would like to see is a little bit more officiating like we see in the college games, where more is called. Because players will adjust. Either call fouls or players will adjust.”

The officiating issues became a widespread talking point after Cheryl Reeve’s ejection in Game 3 of the Lynx-Mercury semifinal series. It was a close game, up until a clash between Collier and Thomas decided its fate. The Mercury player got a game-deciding layup, and the Lynx star got a series-ending injury. Reeve had a visible outburst over this during and after the game, demanding changes from the top for officiating. After the game, she followed it up with a NSFW rant, which led to a suspension on top of Collier being unavailable for the game due to the injury. That represents a double whammy for the Lynx, who entered the postseason as the Number 1 seed and have seen their campaign derailed in a matter of two games. Until Game 2 of the semis, the Lynx were actually undefeated in the playoffs.

Interestingly, both coaches of the Indiana-Las Vegas series have come forward in support of Reeve in this matter. Before the game, Indiana’s Stephanie White was first to speak in Reeve’s favor, stating, “I mean, I think that she made a lot of valid points. You know, a lot of the same kind of conversations are happening. It’s happening from every team, from every franchise, from every coach, from every player. And I think at some point there has to be some accountability.”

Even Las Vegas head coach Becky Hammon supported White’s message. However, Hammon was not mincing any words to show her support for Cheryl Reeve. As she puts it, “I mean, from what I heard, she did not tell a lie. She said the truth as far as that is concerned. A lot of people thought it wasn’t a foul.”

Hammon even used a football analogy, explaining that when a wide receiver moves toward the ball in one direction and a defender comes from another, the defender cannot run through the receiver to reach the ball, even if it is loose.

The Aces HC said she called it a foul because a player in position cannot be run through to reach the ball, not because the ball was tipped cleanly. However, she also noted that Thomas deserved the benefit of the doubt regarding intent. She says, “Now, this happens to be an MVP-caliber player, and I don’t think AT was trying to hurt her or anything. But when you say it’s incidental, okay, maybe, but it certainly wasn’t marginal. That was not marginal contact. So, I agree with Cheryl, it was a foul.”

With two other WNBA coaches backing Rebecca Lobo’s assessment of the Fever-Aces matchup, her words seem to carry added weight. For Cheryl Reeve’s team, however, this could signal the end of their season. Especially as the same pattern of physical play continues to define the Fever-Aces series.

Is Cheryl Reeve pointing at a glaring issue in the WNBA?

As the Indiana Fever takes the victory over the Las Vegas Aces in Game 4, the issue of officiating is a major concern. Why? Looking at the stats, the image becomes clear. In just four games of the Indiana-Las Vegas clash, there have been a total of 149 fouls, averaging 37.25 fouls per game.

On the other hand, the Minnesota-Phoenix series has seen 73 fouls over three games, averaging 24.3 fouls per game. This number is glaringly high compared to the 17.4 fouls per game recorded last season in women’s college basketball. However, the coaches are raising an issue at calls that go unnoticed by the officials. As Hammon puts it, “The physicality is out of control, that’s for sure.”

While Fever won the fourth clash against the Aces, forcing a final game, at one time, both teams were ready for a scary outcome. Why? Because the same refs from the controversial Minnesota-Phoenix game will be officiating this one. It was a complete rage moment for a lot of fans, who took to social media to express concern.

However, with semifinalist coaches and fans echoing Cheryl Reeve’s outcry, the WNBA must conduct an internal review. While it cannot change the officiating rules outright, the league can identify issues and pursue solutions through careful introspection.