-
Mechelle VoepelESPN.com
Mystics mentor Mike Thibault apologized by way of social media to the Minnesota Lynx and mentor Cheryl Reeve just after feedback he built about their travel difficulties in receiving to Sunday’s video game in Washington, D.C.
Thibault mentioned he was “weary of hearing” about WNBA vacation delays and that he didn’t experience sorry for the Lynx.
“My apologies to @LynxCoachReeve and @minnesotalynx for my reaction to the concern requested of me at my pre-sport push meeting right now,” Thibault wrote on Twitter. “It really is not who I am and I must have just answered the problem with no the further dramatics.”
My apologies to @LynxCoachReeve and @minnesotalynx for my response to the concern questioned of me at my pre-recreation press conference nowadays. It is not who I am and I should have just answered the query devoid of the added dramatics.
— Mike Thibault (@coachthibault) July 17, 2022
The Lynx performed back-to-again video games on Thursday and Friday in Minneapolis and Indianapolis, and then they experienced flight issues on Saturday that delayed their arrival until midnight for Sunday’s 3 p.m. tipoff. They misplaced to the Mystics 70-57.
Reeve explained she contacted the league just before Sunday’s game when the problems 1st started Saturday, but no one particular at first responded. She explained when the league last but not least did react to the workforce, it was to advise different flights, which the Lynx had currently figured out.
“I have been in this league a extended time, and if you do this long enough, you are heading to be in these cases,” Reeve mentioned. “I assume when it will come down to the troubles that take place, it is all about leadership and your ability to collectively do the job as a result of that condition. Most likely the higher disappointment was the deficiency of reaction. From our standpoint, there was no conversation with the Minnesota Lynx. It was an epic are unsuccessful.
“It was leaked to me afterwards on there was interaction with Washington. I alerted the league that we possibly experienced a problem brewing simply because I failed to want them to find out on social media. I you should not assume it is acceptable that I don’t get a reaction. I are not able to command how other folks take care of us … I believed we deserved extra regard than that. We’re not pleased that there was no thought specified to us.”
Thibault also was asked about WNBA journey delays right before Sunday’s match.
“I’m drained of hearing about them,” Thibault reported, even though pantomiming rubbing tears from his eyes. “I’m fatigued of listening to about it on Twitter. It comes about to each crew. And I get it. Just about every team would like to get in emotion fully refreshed. But they got here past night time. They failed to play yesterday. I know it really is a very long day. But everybody goes through that.”
Thibault then recounted his very first yr in the league, 2003, when he was the coach at Connecticut. The Sunlight experienced a recreation at Cleveland that was canceled by a blackout that affected numerous Jap states. The Sun took a bus back to Connecticut, and the future morning, they took an additional bus to New York for an afternoon activity at Madison Sq. Yard.
“Nobody felt sorry for us. … and we won,” Thibault mentioned. “We just didn’t talk about it with our players. That is just life. I would like to come to feel sorry for [the Lynx]. But I’m sorry, I you should not.”
Requested about the league calling Washington about maybe moving the activity to Sunday evening, Thibault mentioned, “We have near to a sellout now, and it is not like they were being arriving this early morning. I know it was a lengthy vacation day we’ve all had them. We really weren’t in a placement to accommodate them except if there was a considerably far more mitigating circumstance than there is proper now.”
Right after the sport, nevertheless, Thibault manufactured the post on Twitter that he was sorry for the remarks, and Reeve tweeted back again indicating there have been no hard feelings.
“All good, Coach,” she wrote on Twitter on Sunday night time. “We have many years of respect behind us — this scenario will never alter that.”
Journey troubles have grow to be additional prominently and often mentioned by WNBA players and coaches in latest years. The WNBA flies industrial for frequent-season video games. The New York Liberty were being fined $500,000 for chartering flights to away games throughout the 2021 season, as it violated league regulations.
Charters commonly aren’t permitted thanks to the worry it would create a competitive gain for groups whose homeowners can manage them. Even so, the league in 2019 included charters for playoff video games wherever teams would be crossing many time zones with only a working day in between games.
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert also announced prior to the July 10 All-Star Game that the league would charter all flights for the WNBA Finals beginning this yr.