It’s hard to get Aces coach Becky Hammon and Lynx boss Cheryl Reeve to agree on something. I mean, they absolutely did not see eye to eye when it came to the MVP debate or the Defensive Player of the Year. Reeve’s Alanna Smith and Hammon’s A’ja Wilson shared the DPOTY, something both had an issue with. Then, Wilson trumped Napheesa Collier for the MVP, furthering the divide. However, the two coaches might just form an unlikely duo against the league in their battle against physicality and the miserable officiating. As Lynx faced the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of their semifinals, it was the same as almost every postseason game: very physical. 

By the end, Reeve couldn’t take it anymore. With 23.8 seconds remaining in Game 3 against the Phoenix Mercury, after a no-call when Napheesa Collier hit the floor hard, Reeve went off on the officials, getting in their face while being held back by Natisha Hiedeman and her support staff. Since it was her 2nd technical, she was immediately ejected. Reeve carried that anger straight into the post-game presser, as instead of taking questions, she had an almost 2-minute rant. 

“How dangerous it can be, you hearing and from the other series, you’re hearing other coaches because you hear and you talk about when you let the physicality happen. People get hurt, there’s fights, and this is the look that our elite want.” Reeve said. 

Both Hammon and Stephanie White have already complained about the referees after their 41-foul game. “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. There’d be fights,’” Hammon said. For White, Lexie Hull has been enduring multiple hits while playing through her back injury. White has been fortunate, Reeve not so much, as this injury might mean the end of the road for Collier, who was seen crying as she was helped to the locker room. 

“For some reason, we were trying to play through it. We tried to make excuses. One of the best players in the league is on us had zero free throws, zero free throws. Her shoulder pulled out and finished the game with her leg being taken out, and she probably has a fracture, and so this is what our elites want.” Reeve further said. 

Phoenix drew just one more foul than Minnesota (15–14) yet doubled them up at the stripe, 22–11, while Collier finished without a single free throw for the second time this series, just 2 attempts across three games after averaging 5.2 in the regular season. Collier already missed 7 games in the regular season with a right ankle sprain, and Thomas directly went through the leg after looking at the play in slow motion. After weeks of coaches pleading for consistency, Reeve pushed the conversation to the top floor, demanding accountability from the league’s leadership.

“Okay, but I want to call for a change. Leadership at the elite 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.” Reeve said.

The WNBA’s head of officiating is Sue Blauch, who serves as the league’s Associate Vice President and supervisor of officials. Blauch has a 28-year career officiating collegiate basketball and a 20-year career refereeing in the WNBA, but that practically means nothing if the on-court decisions are this inconsistent. Engelbert is taking the brunt of the backlash even more fiercely now, with multiple journalists pointing out the referee’s mistake that made Reeve attack the league like this. 

Why Many Believe Alyssa Thomas Fouled Napheesa Collier

Alyssa Thomas completely went through Napheesa Collier in that last play . The contact might be incidental since she got the ball and momentum followed Collier into Thomas, but it should have been called a foul immediately, and it’s not only me who is saying this. “The tip was clean, but AT ran through Phee to complete the steal. That’s a foul.” Wrote Percy Allen of the Seattle Times. “This. Even if the ball’s loose, can’t run through someone, initiating contact, and it not be a whistle. Well, shouldn’t be able to..” Kareem Copeland of The Washington Post replied. Even Michael Voepel of ESPN agreed. 

The WNBA rules don’t give any clarity when it comes to this kind of situation. Of course, contact does not give Thomas a foul, but there is a catch. According to the 2025 rule book, “If, however, a player attempts to play an opponent from a position where they have no reasonable chance to perform without making contact with their opponent, the responsibility is on the player in this position.” 

In English, that means if a player lunges from a poor position and can’t possibly make the play without hitting the opponent, any contact is their fault and should be a foul. Now, whether Thomas was in a good or bad position depends on perspective, but with multiple journalists siding with Collier, and for Reeve to be so angry at the decision, it points to only one thing: It was a foul.