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Stephen A. Smith Blasts Cheryl Reeve for Crying After Lynx WNBA Finals Loss

Stephen A. Smith called out Minnesota Lynx Cheryl Reeve on ESPN for her sentiment after losing the WNBA Finals on Sunday.

Grant Young

Stephen A. Smith in 2021.
Stephen A. Smith in 2021. / Tori Lynn Schneider / USA TODAY NETWORK

The 2024 WNBA Finals ended controversially last night, as Liberty star Breanna Stewart received a foul call on a play that most agree shouldn't have received a whistle, which sent the game to overtime and ultimately resulted in a Liberty win.

Nobody was more upset about this than Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, who went on a passionate rant during the postgame press conference that included her saying, "We have got to change our challenge rules, and the officials during the game should have a third party. Because that was not a foul. That call should have been reversed on that challenge."

She later added, "I know all the headlines will be 'Reeve cries foul.' Bring it on. Because this s*** was stolen from us."

Reeve was spot on with her prediction about today's headlines, which is proven by what Stephen A. Smith said about her during a Monday segment of 'First Take'.

"Well cry me a river," Smith said of Reeve's rant, per X user @BizerkJerk. "[Reeve] was absolutely right, that was not a foul... I'm not disputing the veracity of her statement. I'm simply saying I don't give a damn.

"Maybe if y'all had handled your business in Minnesota in Game 3, it wouldn't have been Game 5 for you to be in that position," Smith continued. "[The officiating] didn't stop you from having one of the best records in the sport. It didn't stop you from getting to the WNBA Finals. So why all of a sudden did it cost you a championship? You've got to understand what the obstacles are in every particular situation, and champions know how to answer the call."

He then added, "You've got to know how to answer the call. And Coach Reeve, respectfully, you didn't. That's the bottom line."

Smith has never been one to mince words, that's for sure.

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Grant Young
GRANT YOUNG

Grant Young covers Women’s Basketball, the New York Yankees, and the New York Mets for Sports Illustrated’s ‘On SI’ sites. He holds an MFA degree in creative writing from the University of San Francisco (USF), where he also graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing and played on USF’s Division I baseball team for five years. However, he now prefers Angel Reese to Angels in the Outfield.

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