Image Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

Cheryl Reeve Handed Record $15,000 Fine After Viral Outburst, WNBA Also Issues Penalties to White and Hammon

Record-setting punishment for viral outburst

Image Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images

The WNBA imposed its harshest penalty yet on Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, handing her a $15,000 fine on Monday. The decision comes days after Reeve’s viral outburst at the end of Game 3, which already cost her a suspension from Game 4, a contest that ended the Lynx season.

The fine marks the largest ever issued to an individual for an on-court confrontation in league history. Cheryl Reeve’s frustration with the officiating drew widespread attention, and while her absence on the bench was significant in Game 4, the financial punishment further shows the league’s zero-tolerance stance.

Alongside Reeve’s record-setting fine, Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White and Las Vegas Aces coach Becky Hammon were penalized $1,000 each.

Cheryl Reeve goes off on the refs:

"This is the look that our league wants for some reason. I wanna call for a change of leadership at the league level. For the leadership to deem those 3 people (refs) semifinals playoff worthy is fucking malpractice" pic.twitter.com/pN2paeohUM
— Ashwin (@Sudharsan_ak) September 27, 2025

Both were cited for publicly defending Cheryl Reeve’s postgame remarks, which centered on calls made late in the matchup. While their fines were modest in comparison, the WNBA’s decision to include them also gave a message that criticism of officiating would not go unchecked.

Hammon and White Also Fined for Defense

Stephanie White openly acknowledged her agreement with many of Reeve’s frustrations. “I mean, I think that she made a lot of valid points,” White said. “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.”

Hammon’s support surprised some observers, given her long-standing coaching rivalry with Cheryl Reeve. Still, Becky Hammon voiced her belief that the officiating should have been called differently.

“From what I heard, she did not tell a lie,” Hammon said. “She said the truth. A lot of people thought it wasn’t a foul, so let me give you an analogy. In the NFL, if you are a wide receiver, and you’re going for a ball, and the ball is going this direction, you’re going this direction, and then the defender is coming, you don’t get to run through that wide receiver to get to the ball, even though the ball is loose.”

Becky Hammon made clear she did not believe Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas intentionally tried to hurt Napheesa Collier on the play. But her defense, along with White’s, did little to change the outcome. Ultimately, Cheryl Reeve was fined, suspended, and watched her team eliminated from the postseason.