Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts was ejected during the third quarter of Game 4 of the WNBA Finals, in which the Mercury fell 97-86 and lost the Finals to the Las Vegas Aces.

Tibbetts received a double-technical foul with 2:41 left in the third quarter when he got in the face of one of the officials after a foul was called on Monique Akoa Makani. The Mercury were down 68-54 at the time of the ejection.

WNBA Finals Basketball

Phoenix Mercury head coach Nate Tibbetts, left, yells at official Lamont Simpson (38) after a foul during the second half of Game 4 of the WNBA finals against the Las Vegas Aces, Friday, Oct. 10, 2025, in Phoenix.

Tibbetts wasn’t pleased with the call and even used profanity when describing how he felt.

“To me, it’s embarrassing,” Tibbetts said. “I feel bad that I was tossed. I’ve been around this game for a long time, I think it’s one of the weakest double technicals ever.”

Tibbetts didn’t get an explanation from the officials after the call and said that his words that earned him the first technical foul weren’t repeatable, but he walked away from that interaction and earned his second.

Official Roy Gulbeyan said that Tibbetts used profanity after the foul was called on Akoa Makani, which earned him the first technical.

“After the first technical was assessed, Coach Tibbetts stepped in closer aggressively to the calling official and again yelled,” Gulbeyan said. “At that point, a second technical was assessed, and he was ejected.”

Tibbetts was surprised by the ejection.

“I didn’t even know that I got the second one, to be completely honest,” Tibbetts said. “I don’t understand it. I feel bad for our team, our fans. It wasn’t needed, in my opinion.

I’d love to hear their call, but it was weak. We’re playing for our playoff lives. Most coaches, when they get tossed, you’re doing it on purpose. That was not my intention at all. But there’s been issues with the officiating all year.”

Tibbetts’ ejection was so quick that the players were shocked when he left abruptly.

“I didn’t know when he got the first tech, so I was confused about the ejection,” Kahleah Copper said. “I was trying to figure it out at first. When he was gone, it was just another form of adversity in the year. Let’s just add on to it. Let’s just play hard, and that’s what we about. When you talk about Mercury basketball, we never going to quit. We get after it. We can handle whatever you throw at us.”

Associate head coach Kristi Tolliver took over Tibbetts’ duties for the remainder of the game.