2025 WNBA Finals: Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts calls ejection 'one of the weakest double technicals ever'

Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was ejected in the third quarter of Game 4 of the WNBA Finals after getting face-to-face with a referee. Despite walking away, Tibbetts was hit with a double tech in a decision he described as "bullshit."

His team was in the middle of a must-win game, but ultimately got swept by the Las Vegas Aces in the best-of-seven series with a 97-86 loss.

This was Tibbetts' first ejection of his WNBA career. He also became the first head coach to ever be ejected in a WNBA Finals game.

"To me, it's embarrassing. I feel bad that I was tossed," he said postgame. "I've been around this game a long time. I mean, I think it was one of the weakest double technicals ever. I didn't even know that I got the second one, to be completely honest. I don't understand it.

"I feel bad for our team, our fans. My family. It wasn't needed, in my opinion. Now, I would love to hear their call but it was weak. We are playing for our playoffs lives. Most coaches when they get tossed, you are doing it on purpose. That was not my intention at all. But there's been issues with the officiating all year. To me that's, I don't know, I'll have to look at it. I feel like I didn't deserve that. I thought it was bullshit."

Mercury associate head coach Kristi Toliver, a two-time WNBA champion, took over as acting head coach after Tibbett's exit.

This was just another tough hit for the Mercury, who did not have Satou Sabally available due to a concussion, and earlier in the game saw star Alyssa Thomas hurt her right shoulder -- although she did return to the court to try to help her team make a comeback. 

Tibbetts' ejection happened with 2:41 remaining in the third quarter after he argued about a foul called on Monique Akoa Makani. At that point, the Las Vegas Aces were up 68-54. However, the Mercury seemed to get fired up by the incident and started gaining some momentum. 

"That's what the Finals are about," said Mercury small forward Kahleah Copper during an ESPN sideline interview. "I think the refs aren't doing a good job tonight, I'm sorry, but we just gotta keep our heads. Keep our heads and just try to chip away."

Cheryl Reeve is right: The WNBA's physicality problem has hit a crisis point and officiating needs to change

Lindsay Gibbs

During the Mercury vs. Lynx semifinals, Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve was ejected for going after officials, amongst other things. There have been a lot of talks about officiating during these playoffs, but Tibbetts had been one of the coaches to not heavily criticize referees. 

Tibbetts said he probably did deserve one tech after his initial comments to the official, but he didn't expect another one after walking away -- especially while his team was fighting to stay alive int he Finals. What seemed to irk him the most was not knowing why the referee made that decision.

"I did not get an explanation," he said.

As stated by the pool report released later in the night, crew chief Roy Gulbeyan said the coach was given two separate technicals for yelling, "that's f---g terrible," twice.

"After a foul was called on Makani, Coach Tibbetts came onto the floor and yelled, 'That's f---g terrible.'" read Gulbeyan's response. "After the first technical was assessed, Coach Tibbetts stepped in closer aggressively to the calling official and again yelled, 'That's f---g terrible.' At that point, a second technical was assessed, and he was ejected."

Besides the ejection, Tibbetts also said he was bothered by inconsistencies he sees from officiating night to night. He pointed out the Aces shot 35 free throws. A'ja Wilson shot 19 of them, which was the same number as the entire Phoenix roster.

"I thought earlier in the playoffs they let the teams play a little bit more, but tonight that was not the case," he added.

The coach was not the only one left with more questions than answers. Copper said she was confused about it, while Thomas, who was sitting next to her, seemed to nod in agreement.

"When he was gone, it was just like another form of adversity on the year. Let's just add on to it. Let's just play harder," she said. "And I think that's just what we are about. I think when you talk about Mercury basketball, when you talk about the Phoenix Mercury, period, we never gonna quit. We gonna get after it, and we can handle whatever you throw at us."

Copper declined to expand on her comments about officiating during the postgame press conference, and instead said the Mercury need to hold themselves accountable. One of the most glaring stats was Phoenix giving up 26 points off 18 turnovers. 

Thomas said WNBA players have been asking for consistency in officiating for years, but also didn't blame the referees for this loss. 

"It's unfortunate to get to this stage and you don't have (consistency), but it's not the reason why you win or lose a game," Thomas said. "So the main message is just to leave that part out of it. I think for us, it was about us being better as a team through through the series, and just to leave the officiating out of it."

Regardless of the loss and all the adversity, the Mercury still seemed proud of how far they made it.

"We've just been resilient all year," Tibbetts said. "When we would get behind, we wouldn't hang our heads. We would continue to compete. We competed again tonight after getting down, I think it was 20 in the first half or early in the third. We just keep playing for 40 minutes and I think when you do that you always give yourself a chance. I think that's why we are one of the last two teams here."