MINNEAPOLIS — As Lindsay Whalen’s face appeared on the JumboTron in Goal Middle on Tuesday night time to a raucous reception, the Minnesota Lynx PA announcer took some liberties along with her introduction. “She’s an avid golfer,” he quipped about arguably essentially the most well-known homegrown basketball participant in Minnesota … earlier than stating the plain. “And her No. 13 jersey is retired within the rafters.”
From a courtside seat, Whalen watched because the Lynx punched their ticket to the WNBA Finals with an 88-77 semifinals win over the Connecticut Solar, marking the franchise’s first journey to the finals since 2017, when Whalen helped lead Minnesota to its fourth championship in seven seasons.
After that 2017 run, the band remained collectively for an additional season, however by 2019, Whalen, Maya Moore and Rebekkah Brunson had retired. That very same yr, Cheryl Reeve used her No. 6 WNBA Draft choose to take Napheesa Collier out of UConn. Collier’s numbers, on the time, reminded Reeve of Moore and fellow UConn alum Breanna Stewart, who had simply gained her first WNBA MVP title in 2018.
Six years later, it’s Collier who’s the face of Minnesota basketball. So it got here as no shock that on the last buzzer, Collier practically sprinted immediately throughout the court docket to hug Whalen, who’s enshrined in Lynx lore for what she did for this franchise within the 2010s.
Lindsay Whalen is in the home for Recreation 5 tonight!! @Lindsay_13 #lynxrecognize #wnba pic.twitter.com/GiTJUTtJvk
— Wendell Epps (@epps_wendell) October 9, 2024
Collier stated it’s significant to have “somebody who’s such a Corridor of Famer and has gone by means of this and performed what I wish to obtain. … I needed to present her a hug simply to say thanks for displaying up for us, for displaying up for me and the staff. Thanks for passing this legacy on to us as a result of it means rather a lot, and (I) positively wish to do her proud and proceed. The job shouldn’t be performed.”
The subsequent a part of the job? A monumental activity. In New York, the Lynx face a staff that was assembled to win titles. The Liberty introduced in a number of former MVPs (Stewart and Jonquel Jones) they usually added Courtney Vandersloot, who may play properly with Sabrina Ionescu, their very own drafted guard. New York bought German star Leonie Fiebich (drafted in 2020 however acquired by New York in 2023) to return over to the States to play within the WNBA.
New York is a staff dripping in All-Stars, accolades and expectations.
Frankly, it doesn’t look all that completely different from Reeve’s final staff that made it to the finals. She had 5 starters on her 2017 squad who are actually in numerous (and a number of) Halls of Fame. She had 4 gamers who gained gold medals with the U.S. Olympic staff. She had a beginning core whose jerseys all dangle within the rafters alongside Whalen’s No. 13.
This yr’s Minnesota staff? Within the preseason, it was picked to complete ninth. There’s Collier, a bona fide star and two-time Olympic gold medalist. Her jersey isn’t within the rafters but, however along with her present trajectory, it looks like solely a matter of time. However she is likely to be the one one whose jersey hangs alongside the opposite greats’ on the finish of the day.
“Becky Hammon in Vegas described us pretty much as good gamers (who make) a fantastic staff,” Reeve stated. “That’s what’s so particular about this staff — we didn’t scare anyone. I’m unsure anyone at any level within the season was like, ‘Yeah, they’ve an actual shot at profitable a championship,’ aside from the individuals which might be in our nook.”
No coach has gained extra postseason video games than Reeve (47 — the identical quantity the Phoenix Mercury and Los Angeles Sparks have as whole franchises). She is aware of that to win within the postseason, you must have expertise and a lead guard you belief and who elevates each participant round her. That you must have a participant like Collier, whose steadiness permeates your entire staff. (It helps when that chief performs at an MVP degree, too.)
Reeve is aware of, particularly, that groups that make it to the finals have to be selfless.
After the Lynx win, Courtney Williams recalled a second following a regular-season sport in opposition to the Dallas Wings. Reeve had pulled Williams apart within the locker room to inform her that below the difficult parts of the sport, she thought Williams bent.
“From that second, I invited exhausting,” Williams stated. “Clearly, these conversations don’t must occur with Phee — not that I do know of — or any of the opposite gamers. I simply didn’t wish to be that individual to let the teaching employees down or my teammates down, simply giving in to exhausting. We embody that. None of us give in to exhausting.”
With a WNBA Finals matchup in opposition to the Liberty and coming off 5 relentless video games in opposition to Connecticut, it doesn’t get a lot more durable. Minnesota may need gone 3-1 in opposition to New York throughout the common season, however just like the Lynx, the Liberty have elevated their sport within the postseason.
“The truth that now we have labored so exhausting and we genuinely like one another a lot makes it sweeter. It makes you wish to win for them, too. It’s not simply you wish to get the accolade of profitable a championship; you wish to do it on your teammates as properly,” Collier stated. “We wish to hold taking part in as a result of we wish to keep collectively. We all know yearly appears to be like completely different. This staff won’t ever be the very same once more. Not solely will we wish to win a championship, however we don’t wish to depart one another but. And that’s a fantastic feeling.”
Stated Reeve: “We’re completely happy that we’re going to the finals. However we’re not going to be simply completely happy to be there.”
(Picture of Courtney Williams and Napheesa Collier: David Sherman / NBAE through Getty Pictures)
