Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White was fined for her comments Sunday in support of Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve.
Asked following Fever practice Monday afternoon about the physicality and how it’s been officiated during their WNBA semifinal series vs. the Las Vegas Aces, White smirked and deadpanned: “Look, I already got fined for supporting Cheryl, which I think is crazy.”
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“There’s nothing we want more than just consistency,” she added. “That’s what I would say.”
White’s counterpart in this series, Becky Hammon, was also fined for her comments supporting Reeve, according to ESPN’s Alexa Philippou, who reported they each were fined $1,000 and Reeve was fined $15,000.
The WNBA suspended Reeve one game for her “conduct and comments” during and following Minnesota’s game at Phoenix on Friday.
“I think she made a lot of valid points,” White said prior to Game 4. “A lot of the same conversations are happening from every team, from every franchise, from every coach and from every player. At some point, there has to be some accountability.”
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Asked later what she would like to see addressed moving forward, White referred back to her comments from earlier in the season, highlighting how every part of the WNBA has gotten better, except for the officiating, which has “lagged behind for whatever reason.”
“The players in this league deserve growth in that area, as well,” White continued. “But ultimately we all know that when you’re trying to invest in an area of business or sport, it comes down to resources and providing the right resources. Having as many resources as possible for success in those areas is important.”
Reeve had to be held back in the final seconds of Game 3, incensed by a no-call against Mercury guard Alyssa Thomas following a collision that injured Lynx forward Napheesa Collier. Reeve ran onto the court as soon as play stopped to berate the officials, and received her second technical foul (automatic ejection) as she continued yelling at them.
Reeve shouted at a few Mercury fans as she was escorted off the floor, then lambasted both the officials and the WNBA during her postgame news conference.
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“If this is what the league wants, OK, but I want to call for a change of leadership at the league level when it comes to officiating,” Reeve said. “The officiating crew that we had tonight, for the leadership to deem those three people semifinal-playoff worthy, it’s (expletive) malpractice.”
The WNBA released a statement the following day saying Reeve’s suspension stemmed from “aggressively pursuing and verbally abusing a game official on the court, failure to leave the court in a timely manner upon her ejection with 21.8 seconds to play in the fourth quarter, inappropriate comments made to fans when exiting the court and remarks made in a post-game press conference.”
Hammon told reporters pregame Sunday: “From what I heard, Cheryl did not tell a lie. She told the truth.”
Hammon then explained why she believed a foul should have been called on the play, likening it to pass interference in football. She also took exception to the explanation that it was “incidental” contact.
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“When you say it’s incidental, OK, maybe, but it certainly wasn’t marginal. That was not marginal contact,” Hammon said. “So I agree with Cheryl that it was a foul. And I was in the NBA, doing all the officials work (Spurs coach) Gregg Popovich didn’t want to do, so I’ve been in those conversations.”
“And by the way, every foul is probably incidental. ‘I didn’t mean to hit them.’ So that’s such crap,” she continued. “But everyone has a different opinion on that play — and I don’t have a dog in the race there, but I don’t think you’re allowed to run through a player. Even if it was incidental, it was not marginal.”
The Lynx were eliminated in Game 4 by the Mercury, who await the winner of Tuesday’s Game 5 between the Indiana Fever and Las Vegas Aces. Tip-off is set for 9:30 p.m. (ESPN2).
Game 1 of the WNBA Finals is set for 8 p.m. Friday.
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This story was updated with new information.
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This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Stephanie White, Becky Hammon fined for supporting Cheryl Reeve’s rant
