When the DPOY debate was fresh, the former WNBA star Lisa Leslie chose A’ja Wilson over Napheesa Collier. However, after Collier won the DPOY at the end of the regular season and subsequently showed her exceptional skills in the WNBA Finale series, averaging 8 rebounds and 3.4 steals per game, Leslie issued an apology to her, expressing “I apologize to Napheesa Collier because she was truly the defensive player of the year. And I thought A’ja should have won it, but, man her block shots, her defense, her movement on the court. I mean it was like she was everywhere.” But just moments later, Leslie repeated her critical observations, reopening the Lynx’s head coach Cheryl Reeve’s woes.

On Thursday’s episode of Fast Friends with Kelley O’Hara and Lisa Leslie, the 52-year-old issued an apology to Collier but sided with the New York Liberty when she contemplated the WNBA Finale Series.

When Leslie was asked if the Liberty’s head coach Sandy Brondello’s rant after Game 4 affected the Game 5 decision in any way, the California-born expressed, that believes a coach’s remark on officiating doesn’t really hold any weight for the following game. Having been in the ‘stolen from us’ situation herself, Leslie resonates with the frustration, but it is what it is.

“I understand it. But suck it up buttercup. Because we lost. That’s how we lost our Championship. That’s how they lost their Championship. One of the things I know is that the officials do the best job that they can do. It is a thankless job.” By this, she seemed to side with the officials.

In Game 5 with the fourth quarter nearing the end, the Lynx’s Alanna Smith was given a controversial shooting foul which was challenged by Reeve. However, according to the refs, Smith was not in a legal guarding position and Stewie was given two free throws which she scored, leveling the score 60-60. It was this moment that sent the game into OT, which would have otherwise ended in the Lynx’s favor. However, Leslie did appreciate Reeve’s perspective.

Notably, after the Liberty lifted the silverware, Reeve had advocated for a third party to look into the foul calls, also remarking that Smith’s touch was marginal at best. That was a suggestion Leslie brings to the league herself. “Maybe in the future, have a third party, maybe where they could go back to you know… where someone could look and maybe evaluate the fouls like the NBA does.”

The 2x champion, however, did not skip Breanna Stewart’s ‘traveling’ controversy either. “There’s traveling that happened. Remember, even if they do that the official has to just focus on what the call was… not a mistake made or a call missed,” Leslie noted on the podcast.

Concluding her chat, Leslie enumerated that “no game is lost by one moment,” blaming the Lynx for losing the fourth game at home, which leveled the series.

Lisa Leslie feels the NY Liberty are the ultimate Champions

When the former LA Sparks star was asked if the last-minute issues in Game 5 can stain the Liberty’s claim to the title, she remarked, “it can for a moment, but not for a lifetime.” Leslie points out that they are going to be the defending champions all season long next year and the title is going to stay with them forever. She also very slyly adds the refs missed the travelling call, but it is what it is. 

She gave an example of the LA Sparks for that, when they battling the Detroit Shock during the 2003 WNBA Finals. During one of the games, the Shock had “called the block shot from behind” which apparently helped them win the game. Thus the Sparks were 2-1 in the best of 3 series in the WNBA Finals that stopped them from clinching the three-peat.

Therefore, while Leslie did present an apology to Phee, her critical view over the Game 5 controversy could stand disagreed upon. Four championships already in the bag for Reeve and the starting five returning as is, maybe Phee & Co. can work the experience for the silverware better than most next season.