The New York Liberty won their first-ever WNBA Championship in franchise history. But the decisive Game 5 of the Finals came into scrutiny for many reasons—one of them being the controversial officiating. With five seconds left in the fourth quarter and the Minnesota Lynx leading by 60-58, Alanna Smith ‘made contact’ with Breanna Stewart of the Liberty in order to guard the shot. For the same, a foul was called on the Lynx No. 8, which gave Stewart a trip to the free throw line and New York a chance to force overtime. But Smith’s foul was much debated since many felt that the 28-year-old was not at fault and that the foul call was an example of bad referring.

Now, even a popular digital creator has come forward to join hands with the Lynx! On Tuesday, Rachel DeMita posted a video on her YouTube channel to not only criticize the referees but also point out that Stewie had committed fouls in the very same play. “Last night’s WNBA Finals game was absolutely rigged and there is so much proof. What a terrible way to end this WNBA season,” she started.

“I am sure by now that you have seen the viral moment from last night’s game. The last play of regulation where Breanna Stewart is allegedly fouled and gets sent to the free throw line, she makes both free throws and sends this game into overtime… But there is so much going on here, you guys.”

Stewart was given two free throws, which she successfully hit. Thus, the score was leveled, and the game went into overtime, in which the New York-based team ultimately triumphed, taking home their first Championship title. But there’s more to this scene.

“First, when she gets the ball, she travels, and she doesn’t just like take one extra step. Let’s count here how many steps she takes when she gets the ball. I’m going to put this in slow motion, okay? So she gets the ball here. She jumps 1, 2, 3, 4… She at least jumps… 1… 2… oh my gosh! She at least takes four steps at minimum. She might have taken five. She hops, stutter steps, and doesn’t put the ball down until she gets in the paint. She literally catches the ball close to three-point line, doesn’t put it on the ground until she gets into the paint. So no travel was called,” DeMita stated on her YouTube channel.

Stewie, on getting the ball, tried to move inside the paint to score off a layup and force the overtime. When she didn’t attempt a three-pointer, Smith came up to defend the post. The refs called a shooting foul for Smith, not being in the legal position to guard while the Liberty icon was trying to shoot. They were of the opinion that in an attempt to block her, Smith had made contact with her hands.

But DeMita watched the slow motion video and a few pictures of the incident and opined, “She has two fingers that look like slightly tapping the ball, her body isn’t touching Breanna Stewart, her arm isn’t touching Breanna Stewart. There was clearly zero contact here.”

“Now this play was challenged by the Minnesota Lynx. And the refs reviewed it and I honestly like if this were another time during the game… if this were like in the second or third quarter, I wouldn’t really have much to say about it. There is human error that comes with refereeing at any point in time during a game. But when you challenge something and you challenge a play that basically has the power to change the outcome of arguably the most important game for the entire WNBA season, and you do not overturn this call after seeing, not only the travel that came before it, but then also the no contact when she went up with the ball. Like it’s crazy. Like if this were on the NBA side, that referee would have been fired before the game even ended,” DeMita shared.

Similarly, even the Lynx head coach, Cheryl Reeve, challenged the call, but the refs overturned it with the reason that Smith was not in a legal position. During the post-game press conference, Reeve didn’t look particularly happy with how things had panned out. “All the headlines will be, ‘Reeve cries foul.’ Bring it on,” she said and further accused the refs of ‘stealing the win’ from her team.

Furthermore, the 58-year-old added that Smith’s contact was marginal and hence it shouldn’t have been called a foul. Instead, she advocated for third parties to take the call. But what did Liberty head coach Sheryl Brondello say about the incident?

Sandy Brondello thought the officiating was ‘fair’

When Brondello was asked about Reeve’s comments, she shared she felt the officiating was “pretty fair.”

“That’s what you gotta give, give and take,” Brondello said. “Like Game No. 1, we should have won that game.”

Now, fans who have watched the previous games might remember that after Liberty lost Game 4, the coach told reporters that the referees needed to “be fair.” She even censured officials for not calling multiple fouls that eventually led to their loss.

In fact, viewers watching the game heard her on the broadcast telling her players to exaggerate if they got hit by the opposite team’s players. “If they foul you, embellish it, because that’s a foul,” people heard her say.

Whether the Liberty could have won the Game 5, if it was not sent into OT, is still debatable. But another thing that’s not clear is if the Lynx would have emerged victorious in Game 4 without a foul call. However, the WNBA 2024 is done and dusted, and what stands true is the fact that Liberty has won its first Championship title. But you know what?

This loss might hurt the Lynx a lot because they also lost the championship in 2016 because of bad officiating, though back then, it didn’t seem as conclusive as the 2024 one. In 2016, the contentious missed shot-clock violation took place with 1:13 left in the game.

Game 5 was tied at 71-71. The Sparks missed a 3-pointer and brought down an offensive rebound before Nneka Ogwumike attempted a jumper to push the Sparks ahead by two points. However, the ball was still in her hand when the clock expired.

But the result? Final score: Sparks 77, Lynx 76.

The WNBA later recognized the mistake the refs made and apologized.