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NEW YORK — The 2024 WNBA Finals was one of the most memorable series in league history. Even as they were competing against each other, Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty players recognized the beauty of their competition and what a great advertisement it was in a season that brought record viewership and enthusiasm to the league.
But the finals also brought a spotlight to the WNBA’s officiating. The performance of the referees didn’t rise to the standard of the players, and they compromised the league’s product as a result.
“It’s a shame that officiating had such a hand in a series like this,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said after losing 67-62 in overtime to the Liberty. “Obviously there’s always going to be a team that’s going to be a little more disappointed than the other. I thought today was incredibly disappointing.”
“This (expletive) ain’t that hard,” she added. “Officiating, it’s not that hard.”
The conversation around a do-or-die game featuring two of the best players in the world in Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier should have centered on basketball. Instead, it was dominated by aggrieved reactions to the refereeing and suggestions of conspiracies benefitting the team in the bigger media market with the more popular star.
The Lynx’s ire was primarily focused on one call near the end of regulation, when Alanna Smith was whistled for a foul on Stewart with 5.2 seconds remaining on what appeared to be marginal contact. The decision held up after a challenge, though Stewart clearly traveled before the foul, and Reeve guaranteed that it would not have stood had a replay center outside of the building been tasked with reviewing the call.
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There were also multiple instances of Collier getting hit around the rim or wrapped up before receiving an entry pass that went uncalled. Halfway through overtime, Leonie Fiebich had her arm locked around Collier, leaving Collier unable to catch an entry pass from Natisha Hiedeman and resulting in a Lynx turnover instead of a foul on Fiebich. Collier attempted 18 field goals in the paint and didn’t attempt a single free throw. She had never before taken more than 11 field goals without getting to the foul line. She ultimately fouled out in overtime.
During regulation, before Minnesota had to foul to extend the game in the extra session, the foul disparity was 19-12 against the road team. Reeve went so far as to say the game was “stolen” from the Lynx.
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This isn’t the first time Reeve has cried foul in the postseason, She maintains eight years later that Minnesota lost another title in 2016 when the Sparks weren’t whistled for a shot-clock violation at the end of Game 5, and Nneka Ogwumike managed to get off a game-winning basket in a one-point game. But Reeve’s repeated complaints don’t mean she’s wrong; rather, she’s right that the WNBA has a long-standing problem with quality officiating.
Three games in this series ended with coaches complaining about the one-sided nature of the refereeing during their postgame comments. After Game 3, when Stewart took 10 free throws compared to 12 total for the Lynx, Reeve said: “The game is called differently for Phee than it is for Stewie for sure. You look at the same level of activity, and around-the-rim contact. For whatever reason, we have a hard time getting to the foul line in this series.”
New York coach Sandy Brondello responded in Game 4, when the Liberty lost the free-throw battle 20-9, saying, “I know Cheryl talked about it last time, but we got no calls today. So do I need to talk up in a press conference?”
“All we want is fair, OK. So if we are getting hit, that’s a foul,” Brondello added.
Before the finals, league commissioner Cathy Engelbert said the WNBA would undergo its usual audit of referees while still suggesting that the public focus on calls was a sign of passion rather than an indication that immediate improvement was necessary.
Nevertheless, the fact that the league’s longest-tenured coach would publicly rip the officials not once, but multiple times, on its biggest stage is a red flag.
Combine that with NBA stars like LeBron James and Damian Lillard chiming in on the issue on social media, with Lillard suggesting that the referees intentionally let New York back in the game in the second half, and the WNBA should have some introspection.
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There have never been more eyes on the league than at this moment, and the perception of fairness is imperative to keep fans engaged. They have to believe their team has a chance and not enter games against a media darling as an underdog.
Complaining about officials is a rite of passage for sports fans, so the fact that officiating took a heightened role isn’t out of the ordinary. However, there is a difference between fans feeling their team was cheated and the overall quality of referees not being up to par.
When three officials can’t see the ball went off of a player’s foot – which is what happened in Game 1 with Stewart – and are forced to call a jump ball as a result, that is a failure. When a player is wrapped up and can’t get to a pass because she is being held, and that play is whistled a turnover, that is on the officials.
There will always be judgment calls in basketball, and different referees will allow varied amounts of contact. That isn’t what happened in Game 5, and at other points in the finals, and it will leave a stain on what was otherwise an incredible series.
Brondello wouldn’t take the bait when asked about Reeve’s assertion that the series had been taken from Minnesota, choosing rather to highlight her team’s ability to power through adversity. And New York’s grit should be celebrated. To battle back from 12 points down on a night when their two stars couldn’t hit the ocean from the beach is a remarkable feat of endurance and persistence.
It doesn’t overshadow that the Lynx were battling against more than just the Liberty. That isn’t fair to either team. As it becomes a bigger player in the national sports media landscape, it’s incumbent that the league invests more in its officials so that they are ready for this spotlight and this responsibility. The players deserve better than what they got in Game 5.
(Photo of Cheryl Reeve: Elsa / Getty Images)
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