Back in the WNBA finals for the first time since 2017, the Minnesota Lynx open up their best of five series with the New York Liberty Thursday night. It's the seventh overall finals for the Lynx after they knocked off Connecticut in the semifinals on Tuesday in a winner-take-all Game 5.
While the Lynx franchise and Head Coach Cheryl Reeve are no strangers to the finals and winning championships, New York is seeking their first. Former Lynx star Lindsay Whalen helped lead those four championship wins for the Lynx. Speaking with WCCO's Chad Hartman, Whalen says Reeve has adapted to a different core of players throughout the years.
"We're gonna play the personnel and that's what every great coach or every coach aspires to do," says Whalen who coached for several years herself at the University of Minnesota. "But it's really cool when you see a coach execute it, like several times throughout her career. She's done it really well and very successfully."
Whalen adds it's been nice to see Reeve take the team this far.
"A lot of people are like, 'well, you know, can she do it again with a different set of players?' "She had how many Hall of Famers? You know, obviously that's true," Whalen says. "But I think it's gotta be really, I can even just tell she really loves this group an so it's just fun to see that group, how much they come come together."
As for the New York Liberty, Whalen says she expects a very competitive matchup.
"You know, one thing that's been really good for our team has been our bench and obviously three-point shooting is gonna be huge," Whalen explained.
It sure helps when you have personnel like Napheesa Collier too.
“What makes Phee special is the consistency and the way she shows up every single day,” Reeve said. “Phee is always the same: her work ethic, her demeanor, her passion for improving. She’s improved every season. She’s just been incredible, and every game it’s more than scoring how she helps our team.”
Collier’s performance in Game 5 of the semifinals on Tuesday was simply vintage Collier. She had 27 points on 10-for-16 shooting, 11 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and one steal in 37 minutes to lead the 88-77 victory that sent Minnesota to the finals for the first time since winning its fourth title in 2017. The Lynx will face the New York Liberty in Game 1 on Thursday.
“She’s a great player. She made plays on both sides of the ball. She led her team all night. She was aggressive,” said Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner, who was frequently matched up with Collier at the power forward spot. “She’s been having a great year all year, so I didn’t see that stopping this game. When she’s in rhythm, it’s tough to stop.”
Finishing fifth in the league in scoring and third in rebounding as Collier did during the regular season is a remarkable feat. Factor in her WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award, and this is a true generational player in an era of the league when the star power has never been higher. But what sets Collier apart is how humble and unassuming she is, traits she possessed long before she became a mom and took most of the 2022 season off.
She’s a renaissance woman off the court, an Olympian with Team USA who has partnered with her former college teammate and current Liberty star Breanna Stewart to found a 3-on-3 league, Unrivaled, that is scheduled to begin competition in January and pay six-figure salaries with equity stakes for players. Still, Collier is often one of the WNBA’s more overlooked stars, having never been this far in the playoffs before and not playing for one of the league’s marquee teams.
“I’ve played with so many great players, and Phee is so different, it’s crazy,” Lynx point guard Courtney Williams said. “She is so coachable, from anybody. It does not matter. She just wants to be great. She shows up every day in her humility and the way she talks to people and the way she carries herself, it’s actually insane. Like this girl’s a bona fide superstar. They don’t act like that. A lot of superstars do not act like that, and the way she shows up and she cares, it’s different. When your leader and your superstar moves like that, it’s easy to trickle down.”
At times, Reeve and her staff have to prod Collier to be more aggressive to find her shot, rather than deferring too much to the outside shooters. There is, after all, no bigger fan of them than her.
“The fact that we have worked hard and we genuinely just love each other so much, it just makes it all the sweeter and it makes you want to win for them, too,” Collier said. “It’s not just like you want to get the accolade of winning a championship, you want to do it for your teammates as well, and I think that makes the ride that much sweeter. You want to keep playing because you want to stay together, because you know that every year looks different. This team will never be the exact same again, so not only do we want to win a championship, but we don’t want to leave each other yet.”
The 2019 WNBA Rookie of the Year has come a long way since her time at UConn, when she came to the league as a relatively undersized post player lacking exceptional ball skills. Now she can consistently score off the dribble, knock down 3-pointers and do everything else between rebounding and defending. Every season has brought improvement, including this one when she met Reeve’s challenge to win the Defensive Player of the Year award.
“She doesn’t need us to tell her. She knows what she needs to get better,” Reeve said. “I still think she’s got more ways to improve, and that’s what MVPs do, great players do. They never feel like they’ve arrived. They just keep getting better and better, and that’s what Phee has done.”
Home court advantage
New York has had the second best home attendance this season, averaging more than 12,700 fans. Games are loud and entertaining, giving the Liberty an edge when they play at Barclays Center. It’s also become a spot for celebrities with Spike Lee, Jason Sudeikis, Alicia Keys and many others making appearances.
Star power
Breanna Stewart and Napheesa Collier have been the top players on the Liberty and Lynx respectively this season. Stewart won two titles when she played in Seattle and has two league MVPs to her credit. Collier won the league’s Defensive Player of the Year this year as well as finishing second in the MVP balloting. The pair also are business partners in a new offseason 3-on-3 basketball league called Unrivaled that will play this winter in Miami.
Coaching matchup
The Finals will match two experienced coaches with championship pedigrees. Cheryl Reeve has four WNBA titles since she took over Minnesota, winning in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017. She seems to have pushed all the right buttons with this Lynx team to get them to the Finals for the first time since that last championship. She also guided the U.S. to an eighth straight Olympic gold medal earlier this summer. Liberty coach Sandy Brondello won a title in Phoenix in 2014 and guided the Mercury to the championship round in 2021 and the Liberty last year.
Betting favorites
The Liberty are the betting favorite to win the series at -275 with the Lynx at +220.
How to watch
The WNBA Finals will be on ESPN and ABC.
Finals schedule
Game 1: Thursday, 7 p.m.
Game 2: Sunday, 2 p.m.
Game 3: Wednesday,, Oct. 16, 7 p.m.
Game 4 (if necessary): Friday, Oct. 18, 7 p.m.
Game 5 (if necessary): Sunday, Oct. 20, 7 p.m.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.