Aces coach Becky Hammon blows up at refs after getting ejected in fiery WNBA scene
Becky Hammon’s time on the court Tuesday night was shorter than expected.
During the second quarter of the Aces’ 97-82 loss to the Dream, the Las Vegas head coach was ejected after picking up two quick technical fouls in succession following a heated outburst over a missed call at Michelob ULTRA Arena.
During an Atlanta possession with just over five minutes left in the quarter, Hammon mouthed off to the sideline referee, Amy Bonner, just as Angel Reese cleanly attempted a contested shot but missed.
As soon as the possession changed, Bonner assessed Hammon her first technical foul, which set the head coach into more of a tailspin.
She charged toward Bonner in anger as A’ja Wilson and fellow Aces coaches attempted to keep her from getting a second tech, pushing her back towards the Las Vegas bench.
Yet, she pushed too far and another official, Roy Gulbeyan, issued her the second, resulting in the toss.
Before leaving the court, Hammon got out more of her angst and encouraged her bench to carry on the rest of the game.
The home crowd cheered for Hammon as she headed for the tunnel, with one fan giving the three-time WNBA champion coach a high-five.
Several fans chatted about the ejection on social media, questioning what Hammon was all up in arms about since things looked clean on the Dream’s possession.
However, Wilson didn’t get a foul call on a drive to the basket during the prior possession.
The four-time MVP beat Dream’s Madina Okot but Jordin Canada rushed in to swipe for the ball, hitting Wilson’s arm as she went up to lay the ball in the hoop.
The shot hit the underside of the board and Hammon was fired up over the no-call.
Jackie Young and Wilson both backed their coach during the postgame press conference.
“I mean, Becky rightfully so was upset with the no call that we had down on the other end, and then there was another, I don’t know what happened on the other side,” Young said. “But just the inconsistency that we see sometimes, it’s frustrating. It gets to you.
“We tried to hold her back. Becky’s strong as hell. Tried to hold her back, but I mean, I guess it was just, I don’t know what the hell they saw, but unfortunate.”
Hammon’s frustrations with officiating in the WNBA have been stewing for months.
In May, she didn’t back down from calling out referees over the lack of calls her Aces received in a 95-87 road loss to the Wings, in which they blew a double-digit lead.
“A’ja Wilson shoots one free throw. Chennedy Carter, zero, Jackie Young, zero,” Hammon said. “I’m f–king tired of that bulls–t. I’m not saying they didn’t earn their 22 down there. But when [Wings forward] Awak Kuier shoots more free throws than A’ja Wilson, Jackie Young and Chennedy Carter all combined, that’s a problem.”
On Tuesday, the Dream had 27 free-throw attempts while the Aces had 25.
Las Vegas (24-13) sits in fourth in the tight WNBA standings, but the team has been inconsistent lately.
They have dropped three of their last five games, including a 40-point loss to the Liberty after sitting all of their starters.
The Aces have seven regular-season games remaining before they try to chase down another back-to-back championship.
They previously accomplished the feat in ’22 and ’23, becoming the first WNBA team to do so in 21 years.
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