Despite coming up seconds — and one call — short of a WNBA Championship, the Minnesota Lynx still have a lot to hold their head high about while putting the league on notice in 2024.
Coming into the 2024 WNBA season, the external expectations for the Minnesota Lynx was that the team that finished sixth in the league standings, returned to the postseason and nearly advanced to the second round in 2023 would be a bottom-four team in the WNBA in 2024. In fact, Minnesota was predicted by some to finish as low as the ninth seed by the end of the summer.
But that was external. Internally? It was a completely different viewpoint and expectation for what could be in 2024.
“We gain confidence and energy from one another. I think, internally, we are very strong. Strong-minded, mentally and physically. We have a lot of belief in our group,” Kayla McBride said. “It’s just a belief internally, I don’t know how else to explain it. When things get hard, we come together even more. … We’re all in this together, and you can feel that whenever we’re together. That’s what you’ve seen on the court, us figuring it out together and going to war together.”
With seven of the players on the roaster being new faces entering the year, including the key free agent additions of Courtney Williams and Alanna Smith, the Lynx quickly stormed out of the gate and raised eyebrows of many as the 2024 campaign tipped off.
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Minnesota jumped up the league standings and would remain there, finishing second in the standings behind only the New York Liberty while setting a new franchise record for games won in a season. The Lynx returned to dominance on both ends of the floor, finishing as one of the top teams in the WNBA both offensively and defensively. Minnesota won the Commissioner’s Cup Championship and displayed impressive depth and team basketball led by MVP runner-up Napheesa Collier.
And Minnesota would return to the postseason, where it was ready to make some noise while keeping that ninth-place prediction in the back of their minds to use as fuel.
As the playoffs began, every single player and coach on the Lynx believed they could make a run towards a WNBA title. And they quickly made anybody skeptical of the team believers in no time.
Minnesota stormed past Phoenix with a 2-0 sweep in the first round, then went back and forth with Connecticut in the second round before winning in five games to advance to its first WNBA Finals since 2017.
“Anybody that has been following along knows that this team, from the beginning of the season all the way through, has this unique ability to believe in themselves and believe in each other,” Cheryl Reeve said. “The ups and downs and all of that, this group is just equip to handle it. It’s special.
“It’s beyond words how we feel about this team. We so wanted them to be in the Finals, but put themselves in a position to win a championship.”
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In the Finals, it was again a battle the Lynx would be dealt with while facing the league-leading Liberty in the best-of-five championship series. And in a series that will likely go down as the best of all-time, Minnesota stormed into Brooklyn and nearly came away with its fifth league title in franchise history if not for a controversial call at the end of regulation in Game 5.
“Incredibly proud that, since the day we got together in training camp all the way through to the end, we’re the same team,” Cheryl Reeve said after the Game 5 loss. “No one ever put themselves first, no one. That is incredibly difficult to find.”
Though the season ended in disappointment, the Lynx have plenty to hold their heads up high about. They nearly were — and maybe should have been — WNBA Champions, but came up just seconds — and one call — shy of doing so.
“Every single day we came to work and we enjoyed being with each other. We enjoyed competing with each other, fighting for each other, and that’s why we’re here. That’s why we gave ourselves a chance to compete for a championship. Because we showed up every day and did it the right way and did it for each other. That’s really rare in this league,” McBride said. “We care so much about each other and we wanted it so bad for each other. That’s the beauty of it and it’s the heartbreak of it. Because we deserved this shit.”
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Yes, the Lynx came up short of its goal of a title, but the future is incredibly bright in Minnesota. On top of that, the Lynx have the ability to add to the roster this offseason and now have that valuable playoff experience that will be beneficial down the road.
Watch out, WNBA. The Minnesota Lynx are back. And now they’re on a revenge tour.
“I’m incredibly proud of the number of people that were impacted by Lynx basketball and how excited they were to watch our team play,” Reeve said. “It’s who they are as people, how they did it. I wouldn’t trade them for anyone or any team.”