Cheryl Reeve Drops Honest Take On The Staggering 42 Fouls In Their Season Opener Against Atlanta Dream

The top seed in the 2025 season started off its campaign with a loss against the Atlanta Dream. Although the side was without its star player, Napheesa Collier, who sat out due to injury, the side did well. One thing that went against them was fouls called at the Target Center, with Natasha Howard and Emma Cechova fouled out of the game. Coch Cheryl Reeve spoke about the officiating in the press conference.

In 2025, the Lynx coach slammed the WNBA for inconsistency in the officiating and physicality in the league. She even paid massive fines for her criticism, but the coach stayed on her words and now once again opened up on ‘too often’ officiating.

Cheryl Reeve Confused Over The WNBA Officiating

The Minnesota players received 24 fouls, and the Dream team committed 18 fouls on the opening day. While the hosts lost two of their star players due to six fouls in the game, the Dream side also had Angel Reese and Te-Hina Paopao on foul trouble.

Talking about the sudden rise in the fouls called, Reeve said, “Yeah, I mean you watch the preseason games, you watch the games yesterday, you watch the games today. What I’m confused about, being on the task force, we talked about unnecessary physicality, we didn’t say we want to call marginal fouls. We never brought that up. It takes a little bit of time for sure to calibrate, both them and us.”

Cheryl Reeve on the 42 fouls called and if that was expected with the rules change.

“Yeah I mean you watch the preseason games, you watch the games yesterday, you watch the games today. What I’m confused about, being on the task force, we talked about unnecessary physicality,… pic.twitter.com/Vd2fg7GB6y

— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) May 10, 2026

“I mean, sometimes a marginal foul happens, watching the NBA, I don’t know what a foul is in the NBA, you clobber something, and it’s nothing, and then there’s marginal contact, and it is a foul,” the coach concluded.

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During the preseason, games between the Storm and Liberty and the Wings and Fever each had 61 fouls called, and another game between the Mercury and Sky had 58. This not only slows the game but also puts the defensive player on the back foot. The league will have to balance out the fine line between physicality and soft fouls to keep the game interesting and entertaining.

Recently, Lynx megastar Napheesa Collier also spoke about her criticism of Cathy Engelbert and the league’s physicality. Interestingly, she signed for one year only in the offseason, leaving her future in question.

Cheryl Reeve Makes Strong Admission About Napheesa Collier’s Future

The new CBA gave players the option to sign mega contracts with their respective franchises, as the Aces and A’ja Wilson set a league record for the most lucrative contract. Collier had a chance to be part of similar history, but she signed a one-year contract.

Talking about her decision, Coach said, “Every player was different in terms of how they felt. So, Phee and I had a conversation in January. Some of it was, there was so much uncertainty about how everyone was going to feel when the CBA hit… And some uncertainty. And we had some uncertainty around our franchise because of Phee, and the injury, and then maybe her not necessarily coming out and saying, ‘I’m definitely here. I want to do this, and I’m going to be there for X-number of years.’”

Cheryl Reeve on Napheesa Collier signing a 1 year deal opposed to a longer deal

“Every player was different in terms of how they felt so Phee and I had a conversation in January, some of it was there was so much uncertainty about how everyone was going to feel when the CBA hit…… pic.twitter.com/DAfcPIWtav

— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) May 7, 2026

“And so that’s Phee’s journey, that’s her free agency journey… I would use the word cautious. I think she’s being cautious, and that’s her decision,” Reeve added.

The player will be looking for an early return in the 2026 season, and depending on the team’s performance, might extend her contract in the upcoming offseason.