Minnesota Lynx: History, roster, coach, ownership, iconic players, rivalries

The Minnesota Lynx are the joint-most successful franchise in WNBA history.

Their four WNBA Championships are tied with the Seattle Storm (and the now-defunct Houston Comets) for the most in league history.

Over the years, some of the greatest players in WNBA history have suited up for the Lynx. Here, we'll take you through the history of the franchise.

Minnesota Lynx Season History

Season	Record	Playoffs	Coach
2024	30-10	Lost Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2023	19-21	Lost First Round	Cheryl Reeve
2022	14-22	N/A	Cheryl Reeve
2021	22-10	Lost Second Round	Cheryl Reeve
2020	14-8	Lost Semis	Cheryl Reeve
2019	18-16	Lost First Round	Cheryl Reeve
2018	18-16	Lost First Round	Cheryl Reeve
2017	27-7	Won Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2016	28-6	Lost Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2015	22-12	Won Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2014	25-9	Lost Conference Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2013	26-8	Won Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2012	27-7	Lost Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2011	27-7	Won Finals	Cheryl Reeve
2010	13-21	N/A	Cheryl Reeve
2009	14-20	N/A	Jennifer Gillom
2008	16-18	N/A	Don Zierden
2007	10-24	N/A	Don Zierden
2006	10-24	N/A	Suzie McConnell Serio, Carolyn Jenkins
2005	14-20	N/A	Suzie McConnell Serio
2004	18-16	Lost Conference Finals	Suzie McConnell Serio
2003	18-16	Lost Conference Finals	Suzie McConnell Serio
2002	10-22	N/A	Brian Agler, Heidi VanDerveer
2001	12-20	N/A	Brian Agler
2000	15-17	N/A	Brian Agler
1999	15-17	N/A	Brian Agler

Minnesota Lynx WNBA Championship History

All four of the Minnesota Lynx's titles came in alternating years between 2011 and 2017, and the team's legendary head coach, Cheryl Reeve, was at the helm for each one.

In 2011, the year of their first title, the team was led by veteran do-it-all guard Seimone Augustus and rookie first-overall pick Maya Moore. The Lynx swept the Atlanta Dream, who were led by Angel McCoughtry.

Their next Finals win was in 2013 against the Dream once more. Moore led the way with a team-high 20.0 points per game, followed by Augustus' 17.7 points. Minnesota also won this series in a sweep, as Moore's 23 points in Game 3 sealed the franchise's second title.

Minny's third title came in 2015, and by this time, the team added Sylvia Fowles to its already dynamic duo of Moore and Augustus. This series went the distance as Tamika Catchings and the Indiana Fever pushed it to a Game 5, but the Lynx won the decider in a 69-52 blowout.

The Lynx's most recent title was in 2017, and this series also required a Game 5. The Lynx were down 1-2 heading into Game 4, but they rattled off two straight wins to overcome the Candace Parker-led Los Angeles Sparks. Fowles, who won the regular-season MVP Award that year, also earned her second career Finals MVP.

Minnesota Lynx 2025 Roster

Name	Position	Height	College	Years Pro
Marieme Badiane	C	6-foot-3	N/A	Rookie
Grace Berger	G	6-foot	Indiana	2
Bridget Carleton	F	6-foot-1	Iowa State	6
Napheesa Collier	F	6-foot-1	UConn	6
Aubrey Griffin	F	6-foot-1	UConn	Rookie
Natisha Hiedeman	G	5-foot-8	Marquette	6
Anastasiia Kosu	F	6-foot-1	N/A	Rookie
Kayla McBride	G	5-foot-11	Notre Dame	11
Diamond Miller	F	6-foot-3	Maryland	2
Alissa Pili	F	6-foot-2	Utah	1
Karlie Samuelson	G	6-foot	Stanford	6
Jessica Shepard	F	6-foot-4	Notre Dame	4
Alanna Smith	F	6-foot-4	Stanford	6
Courtney Williams	G	5-foot-8	South Florida	9

Find out how to watch every Minnesota Lynx game in 2025 with our schedule & TV guide.

Minnesota Lynx Coach

Cheryl Reeve has served as the head coach of the Minnesota Lynx since 2010, and her success in the role has seen her earn four WNBA Coach of the Year Awards and a promotion to simultaneously serve as general manager.

Reeve took the job after working as an assistant coach for the Charlotte Sting, Cleveland Rockers, and Detroit Shock. The Lynx went 13-21 in Reeve's first year at the helm, but things turned around quickly.

The team drafted Maya Moore, then a standout from UConn, with the first overall pick in the 2011 WNBA Draft. That year, Reeve coached Moore, Seimone Augustus, and the rest of the Lynx to win the first WNBA Championship in franchise history. That began a dynasty in Minnesota for the next seven seasons.

Under Reeve between 2011 and 2017, the Lynx were never eliminated before the Conference Finals, and that only happened once in 2014. She led the team to four titles in seven seasons during that span, and the franchise is now tied for the WNBA record in championships.

Reeve, who became the head coach of the United States women's national basketball team in 2021, has helped the team continue to reach the playoffs since the trio of Augustus, Moore, and Sylvia Fowles retired. The 2022 season was just the second time in her tenure that Reeve failed to guide the Lynx to the playoffs, and in 2024, they got back to the Finals for the first time since 2017.

Minnesota Lynx Ownership

Marc Lore, a former e-commerce entrepreneur who made most of his money by working as the CEO of Walmart and by founding and selling online shopping companies, is part-owner of the Minnesota Lynx alongside former MLB superstar Alex Rodriguez.

Together, the two own both the Lynx and the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves. They bought the franchises from Glen Taylor in 2021.

Minnesota Lynx Iconic Players

Seimone Augustus

Seimone Augustus was drafted first overall by the Lynx out of LSU in 2006, and she made an immediate impact. She won the Rookie of the Year Award in '06 and finished in the top 10 of MVP voting in each of her first two seasons.

Augustus had to wait a few years for her first Playoff appearance, but when she got there in 2011, she took her team all the way. She won the Finals MVP Award as she averaged 24.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 4.7 assists while shooting 58.7 percent overall and 75.0 percent from the free-throw line.

The LSU product played a vital role in the next three Lynx title wins. Augustus was second on the team in scoring in the 2013 Finals and third in both 2015 and 2017. Even when her scoring was lower in later seasons, she continued to impact games in a number of ways by raising her assists and rebounds averages and becoming more dangerous from behind the three-point line.

Sylvia Fowles

The Lynx had to give up a lot when acquiring Sylvia Fowles via trade during the 2015 season, but she raised her game after swapping Chicago for Minnesota.

Fowles won two titles with the Lynx, and the first was in her inaugural season in Minny. During that 2015 Finals series against the Indiana Fever, she averaged 15.6 points, 9.4 rebounds, 1.2 assists, and 1.0 block while shooting 69.6 percent from the field to earn the Finals MVP Award.

Minnesota lost in the 2016 Finals, but Fowles still impressed by averaging a double-double along with 1.2 steals and 2.2 blocks in five games. But, in the Lynx's most recent Finals win in 2017, Fowles dominated while winning Finals MVP again. She averaged 17.8 points, 15.0 rebounds, 1.2 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.4 blocks, leading the team in rebounds and blocks while being tied for the team lead in points.

Fowles also won a WNBA MVP Award with the Lynx in the 2017 season when she averaged 18.9 points, 10.4 rebounds, 1.5 assists, 1.3 steals, and 2.0 blocks while shooting 65.5 percent from the field in the regular season.

Maya Moore

Maya Moore was a highly-regarded prospect after winning two national titles at UConn, and the Lynx won the 2011 WNBA Draft Lottery in order to select her first overall. She hit the ground running, winning the Rookie of the Year Award and being a key part of that season's title-winning team.

Moore scored 11.3 points per game against the Atlanta Dream in the 2011 Finals, and she raised that to a team-high 20.0 points in the Lynx's next successful trip to the Finals in 2013, where she won the Finals MVP Award.

The Women's Basketball Hall of Fame inductee won the WNBA MVP Award in 2014, averaging 23.9 points, 8.1 rebounds, 3.4 assists, and 1.9 steals on 48.1 percent shooting. The following year, she led her team to the Finals and helped them beat the Indiana Fever in five games.

Moore's last Finals appearance was in 2017, where she averaged a joint-team-high 17.8 points with 6.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists, and 2.2 steals on 54.1 percent shooting. She took a hiatus in 2018 that turned into full retirement, and in her eight-year career, she never finished lower than 15th in MVP voting.

Minnesota Lynx Rivalries

The Minnesota Lynx will play the New York Liberty twice during the inaugural edition of WNBA Rivals Week in 2025.

Minny and NY faced off in the 2024 WNBA Finals, where the Liberty won in five games — and in controversial fashion. A foul by the Lynx's Alanna Smith on the Liberty's Breanna Stewart in Game 5 allowed New York to tie the game late in regulation, and the Liberty won the game — and the title — in OT.

The teams faced off nine times in 2024, including in the Commissioner's Cup Final in June 2024, so they're used to seeing each other in high-stakes situations.

Another team that could be considered a rival of the Lynx is the Atlanta Dream, who the Lynx beat in the WNBA Finals in both 2011 and 2013. The Indiana Fever have faced Minny twice in the Finals, in 2012 and 2015, and each team won one of those series.