“Cheated for NY” – LeBron James, Bill Simmons, and other stars unload on controversial WNBA finals

Breanna Stewart and New York Liberty winning WNBA finals was dampened as LeBron James, Bill Simmons and others call out officiating.

“Cheated for NY” – LeBron James, Bill Simmons, and other stars unload on controversial WNBA finals

WNBA finals saw alleged bad officiating as pointed out by LeBron James and others as Breanna Stewart and New York Liberty win first title

Game 5 of the WNBA Finals was one of the most anticipated battles of two teams that had nothing much to separate them. At home, the New York Liberty knew the crucial game against the Minnesota Lynx would not be easy.

It did become a battle for the ages until the final few minutes of the fourth quarter and overtime. When the likes of LeBron James, Bill Simmons, and others pointed out glaring officiating errors.

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Up until the end of the first half, the game was a fair battle. Napheesa Collier and the Minnesota Lynx racked up an early lead and kept it that way. But then the third quarter onwards, fouls seemed to go the way of the Liberty. The end numbers were glaring at the disparity the officiating showed. The Lynx shot only eight free throws in total, whereas the Liberty shot from the line a mindboggling 25 times.

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But none was more evident than the foul Breanna Stewart received with five seconds left in regulation. The two-time WNBA MVP clearly was not called for a travel and was awarded the foul despite not being touched by any Lynx player when taking the shot. She converted both the ensuing free throws, which sent the game into overtime.

Then onwards, the New York Liberty streaked ahead and scored enough points in overtime to win their first ever WNBA title.

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A momentous occasion for which New York native Stewart left her solid base with the Seattle Storm a couple of seasons ago. The Finals MVP award went to Jonquel Jones, who Stewart recruited when creating this super team.

Stars and fans call out WNBA Finals officiating after glaring errors

The moment might be momentous for Breanna Stewart and the City of New York, as they celebrate their first basketball title in more than half a century. But that did not stop fans and celebrities from pointing out the alleged officiating bias.

For instance, as soon as the referee called that foul, LeBron James tweeted that it was clearly not one. Then, as the game progressed, other famed celebrities such as Bill Simmons, Isaiah Thomas, and Damian Lillard, all talked about the evident bias.

Many felt the game was not officiated fairly and called out the WNBA for handing the Liberty the title. Pointing out the possibility of trying to create a narrative. Check out examples of such comments below;

For this stellar WNBA season to end on this note was not what fans expected.

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Games 1 to 4 was a testament of hard-fought basketball. The officiating determining the outcome of Game 5 has taken the gloss off these WNBA finals.