Washington Mystics coach Mike Thibault apologizes for dig about Minnesota Lynx’s travel issues

Mystics coach Mike Thibault apologized by using social media to the Minnesota Lynx and mentor Cheryl Reeve after opinions he designed about their journey challenges in having to Sunday’s activity in Washington, D.C.

Thibault reported he was “weary of listening to” about WNBA vacation delays and that he did not truly feel sorry for the Lynx.

“My apologies to @LynxCoachReeve and @minnesotalynx for my response to the query asked of me at my pre-video game press meeting right now,” Thibault wrote on Twitter. “It is not who I am and I must have just answered the query devoid of the extra dramatics.”

The Lynx played back-to-back again games on Thursday and Friday in Minneapolis and Indianapolis, and then they had flight challenges on Saturday that delayed their arrival until finally midnight for Sunday’s 3 p.m. tipoff. They lost to the Mystics 70-57.

Reeve explained she contacted the league in advance of Sunday’s video game when the troubles first commenced Saturday, but no one to begin with responded. She stated when the league lastly did respond to the team, it was to counsel different flights, which the Lynx experienced by now figured out.

“I have been in this league a prolonged time, and if you do this extensive sufficient, you are likely to be in these conditions,” Reeve reported. “I believe when it will come down to the challenges that arise, it is really all about leadership and your capacity to collectively get the job done via that situation. In all probability the bigger disappointment was the absence of reaction. From our standpoint, there was no communication with the Minnesota Lynx. It was an epic fall short.

“It was leaked to me afterwards on there was conversation with Washington. I alerted the league that we probably experienced a difficulty brewing because I did not want them to find out on social media. I don’t feel it really is appropriate that I you should not get a response. I can not handle how other men and women deal with us … I assumed we deserved additional regard than that. We’re not happy that there was no consideration offered to us.”

Thibault also was asked about WNBA journey delays just before Sunday’s sport.

“I am drained of hearing about them,” Thibault explained, though pantomiming rubbing tears from his eyes. “I’m fatigued of listening to about it on Twitter. It comes about to every single group. And I get it. Each individual staff would like to get in emotion absolutely refreshed. But they obtained right here very last evening. They did not perform yesterday. I know it is a prolonged day. But all people goes through that.”

Thibault then recounted his initially year in the league, 2003, when he was the coach at Connecticut. The Solar had a video game at Cleveland that was canceled by a blackout that impacted numerous Jap states. The Sunlight took a bus again to Connecticut, and the subsequent morning, they took a different bus to New York for an afternoon sport at Madison Square Garden.

“Nobody felt sorry for us. … and we received,” Thibault mentioned. “We just failed to talk about it with our players. Which is just existence. I’d like to feel sorry for [the Lynx]. But I am sorry, I don’t.”

Questioned about the league making contact with Washington about perhaps going the sport to Sunday night, Thibault claimed, “We have close to a sellout today, and it is not like they ended up arriving this morning. I know it was a extensive vacation day we have all experienced them. We truly were not in a situation to accommodate them unless there was a much extra mitigating circumstance than there is suitable now.”

Following the activity, having said that, Thibault designed the write-up on Twitter that he was sorry for the remarks, and Reeve tweeted back again saying there had been no tough feelings. 

“All great, Coach,” she wrote on Twitter on Sunday night. “We have yrs of respect guiding us — this situation would not improve that.”

Vacation problems have develop into much more prominently and routinely stated by WNBA players and coaches in new many years. The WNBA flies business for regular-time games. The New York Liberty were fined $500,000 for chartering flights to away online games in the course of the 2021 season, as it violated league policies.

Charters usually aren’t authorized because of to the problem it would make a aggressive advantage for teams whose homeowners can find the money for them. Even so, the league in 2019 extra charters for playoff online games exactly where teams would be crossing several time zones with only a working day in between video games.

WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert also announced prior to the July 10 All-Star Sport that the league would charter all flights for the WNBA Finals beginning this 12 months.