Napheesa Collier still feels “egregious” call robbed Lynx in WNBA Finals

The Minnesota Lynx superstar sounded off on the referee decisions that she believes cost her team a WNBA championship.

It’s been just over two weeks since the conclusion of the WNBA Finals, a back-and-forth series between the New York Liberty and the Minnesota Lynx in which a couple of controversial late-game calls ultimately helped determine the final outcome.

The Liberty prevailed 67-62 in overtime after a foul was called on the the Lynx’s Alanna Smith with just a few seconds left in regulation and Minnesota up by two. Breanna Stewart subsequently hit two free throws to send tie the game, and the Liberty ran away with it in overtime.

Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve sounded off about the officiating moments after the game’s conclusion, telling reporters: “This s*** was stolen from us.”

Reeve also said that she didn’t mind if reporters’ headlines stated “Reeve cries foul” and that the challenge system must change so that an outside group reviews foul calls rather than the referees that just blew the whistle.

“The officials doing the game should have a third party, because that was not a foul,” Reeve said. “That call should have been reversed on that challenge, if we sent that clip in. Guaranteed. Guaranteed.”

It was unclear if Reeve and the Lynx would maintain the same perspective when their emotions settled, though their postgame press conference was critical of the officiating across the board.

This week, Napheesa Collier seemed to send the message that Minnesota’s stance that the officiating cost them the game hasn’t changed.

Appearing on Podcast P with Paul George, the reigning Defensive Player of the Year was asked if the Lynx felt they were robbed of a title.

“Yeah, it’s hard. For sure, I thought the officiating was terrible,” Collier said. “I mean, I think that’s the consensus for everyone.”

Collier acknowledged that the Lynx didn’t lose the championship exclusively because of the Smith foul — her team only scored two points in overtime — but noted that refereeing was an issue throughout the night.

“It never comes down to one call, of course,” Collier said. “Obviously, in my opinion, it was really egregious — the travel beforehand, the foul call at the end. The reffing the entire game was really bad, it didn’t come down to that. It was bad the entire game.”

Her main message on Podcast P was one that WNBA players and coaches have reiterated numerous times this season: they just want see the same types of calls all game long, and for the calls to go both ways. Down the stretch, players have maintained that whistles have been blown for fouls that likely wouldn’t haven’t have been called earlier in the night, or the reverse — something that was a foul earlier is now incidental contact.

“We have always complained about consistency,” Collier said. “It’s not the fouls that you’re calling, it’s that it wasn’t a foul earlier in the same game.”

Collier explained that the Lynx have scouting reports for referees and their tendencies; some call a lot of offensive fouls, others travels, and that helps inform the team heading into games: “Why is it not uniform? What are you guys looking for?”

Collier is a physical defender, and she’d rather referees let physical play go rather than constantly blow the whistle. But, the main thing she wants is clarity on the officiating process and consistency in the types of calls being made.

“We play a really physical game,” Collier said. “I prefer that, actually. But, it has to be the same on both ends... I just want it the same throughout the game. If you’re gonna call a touch foul, call a touch foul the whole game.”