WNBA announces major punishment for Lynx HC Cheryl Reeve

It's heavy-handed.

Extremely so. 

It might also play a pivotal role in deciding the outcome of a series, because taking away a team's head coach is a monumental and, quite honestly, unprecedented decision in professional sports. 

Ever. In any league. Men's or women's.

It's also not doing the league any favors. 

The WNBA already has a negative reputation with its officiating, and it's not just Reeve being an angry coach following a loss where one of her best players was injured. The physicality of the WNBA, as well as the officials' willingness to consistently look the other way on it, combined with the league's lack of interest in doing anything about it, has been called into question by coaches, analysts and players for years. It is only getting louder now that more eyeballs are descending onto the league.

When you let the style of play get out of control, and when the only rules seem to be "there are no rules," it not only hurts the quality of the games and the league itself, but it also puts players in physical danger and increases the risk of injury. 

Reeve might have been angry after the game, but her criticism was valid. All of the criticism of the league's officiating is valid. Suspending her for it and pretending like there is no issue is not going to make anything better in the short-term or the long-term. It is just going to make fans, players and observers continue to side-eye the league and its motives for what it wants to be.