Napheesa Collier Appears to Shade WNBA Refs in IG Photos After Lynx's Loss to Liberty

Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier took a thinly veiled shot at the officiating from Game 5 of the WNBA Finals in an Instagram post reflecting on the 2024 season.

A number of images accompanied the post, but the last three appeared to be very intentional. One showed contact to Collier's face that wasn't called and the other two were questionable fouls drawn by Liberty stars Jonquel Jones and Breanna Stewart.

No ruling was more contentious than the referees upholding the personal foul on Lynx forward Alanna Smith with 5.2 seconds left in regulation.

Smith seemingly went straight up and only made contact with the ball to disrupt Stewart's shot. Instead, the refs determined she was not in a "legal guarding position," and Stewart went to the charity stripe to sink two free throws and tie the game.

Even if that call had gone Minnesota's way, the Lynx players and coaches still probably would've pointed to the large discrepancy in free throws between the teams. The Liberty had 25 attempts to eight for Minnesota.

Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve was much more direct than her star player. She told reporters in her postgame press conference the Finals were "stolen from us."

Granted, Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello had her own bone to pick with the officiating after Game 4.

Complaints about the standard of officiating in the WNBA have extended for years. After it proved to be such a large subplot from the biggest game of the 2024 season, the league might feel compelled to act in some form.