Minnesota Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve Named WNBA Coach of the Year and Basketball Executive of the Year (Video)

Cheryl Reeve’s 2010 debut season as head coach in Minnesota was a rocky one, but she propelled the franchise to the No. 1 overall pick in Maya Moore, kicking off a decade of excellence.

That situation unraveled the previous two seasons when, for the first time in Reeve’s tenure, the Lynx dropped below .500 in consecutive years. They were overlooked in the preseason, without star signings in other franchises’ free agency, but it didn’t matter.

The Lynx returned to the top with a second-place playoff finish, the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup trophy and a record fourth Coach of the Year awards for Reeve, as well as Executive of the Year awards. On Sunday before the first match of the semi-finals, the league announced the voting results. Lynx hosts Sun #3 at 8:30 PM ET.

Reeve received 62 of 67 votes for Coach of the Year from a national panel of sports writers and broadcasters. New York head coach Sandy Brondello received four votes and Indiana head coach Christie Sides received one.

Reeve also won Executive of the Year in a three-person ballot, which is voted on by each team’s top executives. Board members cannot vote for themselves. Reeve, who is also president of basketball operations for Lynx, received 10 points. Talisa Rhea of ​​Seattle received eight and Darius Taylor of Connecticut received seven.

Reeve won Coach of the Year honors in 2011 and is one of seven coaches to win the award in the same year as the WNBA championship. She also won in 2016 and 2020. Van Chancellor and Mike Thibault, the league’s winningest coaches, have won the award three times. Reeve joins Curt Miller (2017, Sunday) as the only coaches to win Basketball Coach and Executive of the Year honors in the same season. Most organizations have separated positions.

The Lynx were 19-21 last year, but finished sixth in the playoffs and forced the team to play a third game against the Connecticut Sun in the first round. Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride, Diamond Miller and reserve Bridget Carleton are back, and the front office has signed point guard Courtney Williams and forward Alanna Smith.

Reeve has put all the pieces together into a title contender that she describes as a “collective” rather than a super team like New York or Seattle. The Lynx finished second in defensive rating and fourth in offensive rating, up from 10th and 8th, respectively. They won the Commissioner’s Cup against favorite Liberty and won the season series against Liberty and the Aces. Both franchises returned their entire starting five from the 2023 Finals.

Collier, who was named Defensive Player of the Year, received all but one of the runner-up MVP votes behind running back A’ja Wilson and is a mainstay of the Lynx defense. Reeve said she told Collier during her 2023 retirement interview that she needed to reach that level for the team to take the next step. McBride is having one of the best three-point shooting seasons of his career, as are most of the Lynx. Carleton is more confident and hits clutch shots late. Williams averaged 5.5 assists per game for his team.