Off point: While Reeve was right about everything she said, she also paused for a moment to admit that her “lead guard play” wasn’t very good. Officials missing calls is baked into the game of basketball. The Lynx may have lost because of officiating. They definitely lost because lead guard Courtney Williams, one of their most valuable players, went 2-for-14 from the field, with five turnovers. And the Lynx, who led the league in three-point shooting percentage in the regular season, went 3-of-19 from the three-point line. The Lynx also committed 16 turnovers. If the Lynx had played to their offensive capabilities, they would have won, going away, in regulation, and Stewart’s uncalled travel would not have mattered.
Remember, Liberty coach Sandy Brondello, another WNBA veteran, thought her team should have received calls that would have won Game 1 and/or Game 4 and ended the series before Game 5 occurred.
Revealing: At this level, sports are largely about money, about billionaire owners investing in billion-dollar franchises while trying to make their next billion.
Reeve’s Rant, though, had nothing to do with greed and everything to do with the kind of passion and intensity that makes sport worthwhile.
If there is a kind way to view Reeve’s Rant, it is through this lens: She left no doubt that all she cared about was winning, for her players and her franchise. In that way, her diatribe revealed the essence of sport.
