Washington Mystics coach Sydney Johnson required a police escort off the court following an animated argument with officials during Saturday night’s loss to the Atlanta Dream.
With the Mystics trailing the Atlanta Dream 64-43 in the third quarter, Johnson became incensed after Washington’s Alicia Florez Getino was called for a foul while defending Atlanta’s Angel Reese driving to the basket.
Johnson’s assistants had to hold him back as he repeatedly attempted to charge the officials.
Mystics forward Kiki Iriafen was also among those who tried to calm Johnson.
“I lost my cool,” he told reporters. “There’s nothing more than that. That’s it. Officials did what was appropriate, and that’s all I can say.”
Johnson was ultimately ejected at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter. Three police officers approached the 52-year-old and physically removed him from the vicinity of the scorer’s table.
He eventually headed to the locker room on his own accord.
The Mystics fell to 4-5 on the season after the 109-77 loss. It counted as the team’s worst loss of the season thus far.
“I don’t want to take away from Atlanta playing really hard and from us having a learning moment for our team,” said Johnson, who declined to elaborate on what upset him about the play. “Not a great moment for our team or me … but that certainly doesn’t define the togetherness, the toughness, the joy we have. My ejection is not a great thing. That’s certainly not going to be a consistent thing.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
