Washington Mystics head coach Sydney Johnson was ejected and escorted off the court by three police officers during Saturday's 109-77 road loss to the Atlanta Dream.
The sequence unfolded at the 3:52 mark of the third quarter after referee Blanca Burns whistled Mystics defender Alicia Florez Getino for fouling Angel Reese on a drive to the basket. Johnson then charged toward the officials during the ensuing timeout, wagging his finger furiously before briefly turning to umpire Randy Richardson.
He ended up collecting two quick technical fouls and was ejected. Still jawing at the referees after the ruling, Johnson drew Atlanta police onto the court. Officers initially took him by the arm and pointed him toward the locker room before releasing him; he walked the rest of the way with his staff.
Assistant coaches attempted to restrain Johnson multiple times during the confrontation. Mystics forward Kiki Iriafen also stepped in, per ESPN. "Coach always has our back," said Iriafen of the situation. "He's going to do whatever to protect us. I was just trying my best to kind of diffuse it." Assistant coach Emre Vatansever handled the remainder of the game after Johnson's exit.
Johnson was candid in his postgame remarks about what happened. "I lost my cool," he said. "There's nothing more than that. That's it. Officials did what was appropriate, and that's all I can say." He declined to specify what the Reese foul call provoked in him, saying only, "I'd rather not get into that."
"I don't want to take away from Atlanta playing really hard and from us having a learning moment for our team,” he continued. “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."
Washington trailed 64-43 at the time of the ejection and never recovered. The loss dropped the Mystics to 4-5 on the season. Atlanta, now 7-3, holds first place in the Eastern Conference and has won four straight against Washington. Reese led the Dream with 18 points and 17 rebounds, her seventh double-double of the season. Rhyne Howard chipped in 19 points and six steals, with five Dream players finishing in double figures in the franchise's highest-scoring game of the year. Atlanta out-rebounded Washington 42-26 and recorded 16 steals. Iriafen paced the Mystics with 24 points on 53 percent shooting.
