Cheryl Reeve can taste the all-time regular-season wins record.

The Minnesota Lynx head coach, who already holds the record for most combined regular-season and postseason victories by a WNBA coach in the league’s history, and who already has four championships with the Lynx during an epic, dynastic run in the 2010s, is set to overtake Mike Thibault as the league’s winningest regular-season coach.

The former head coach of both the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics has 379 regular-season wins, while Reeve has 377 as of June 24. The Lynx are also atop the league’s standings with a 13-4 record, and have shown no signs of regression thus far. She could tie the record as soon as Sunday, June 28, against the Dallas Wings and could overtake Thibault on July 3 against the New York Liberty. ​

Reeve has navigated quite a career with Minnesota, both defying recent precedent by remaining the head coach despite multiple missed opportunities for a championship and continuing to help the Lynx thrive despite a major injury to a perennial MVP candidate in Napheesa Collier.

Looking back on Reeve’s career, though, neither of these outcomes should come as a shock.

Reeve’s Beginnings, Lynx Dynasty

Head coach Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx poses with the 2014 WNBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) Maya Moore

Coming into the fold for Minnesota in 2010, Reeve was expected to correct a ship that had gone off course due to injuries to both Seimone Augustus and Candice Wiggins. Again, Reeve had to navigate injuries to Minnesota’s star players, much as she’s doing today. While the team went 13-21 in her first season as the head coach, things turned around in a big way the following season. ​

Another startling parallel between the early Reeve days and their present iteration? The team did a 180 from a struggling franchise to a championship winner thanks to both Wiggins and Augustus returning healthy and rookie Maya Moore coming into the fold. It was the first of four championships for the franchise during the 2010s, and Moore was the one who added “oomph” for Reeve’s roster that pushed them over that hump four total times.

Players from that era have had nothing but wonderful things to say about Reeve, with Augustus offering a perfect example of this. She told Mitchell Hansen of Canis Hoopus back in 2023 that, “To go through that process and see the sacrifices that were made amongst all players and staff to make this, it was amazing to be part of that. That was probably my best basketball experience in my journey, and I’ve had many great moments, but we came in as strangers, and we ended up being family toward the end of it.”

Moore, who stepped away from basketball in 2019 and never returned, earned praise from Reeve, who shared her unwavering support for the superstar’s decision to focus on social justice and advocacy rather than basketball.

When Moore helped to successfully secure the release of Jonathan Irons back in 2020, Reeve put out a statement on behalf of the Lynx organization, stating:

“…we are so proud of Maya for earning the biggest win of her career. I am sure that she was voted MVP of this championship, too. This time, there is no hardware to take home to the trophy case, just a wrongfully convicted black man walking free.”

Her support for stars like Augustus, Moore, and others throughout her dynasty just adds to her importance to the Lynx organization and explains why so many players have stuck by her throughout her nearly decade-long tenure in the league.

In 18 seasons as the Lynx’s head coach, Reeve has only missed out on the postseason twice (so far, although it would take a collapse of epic proportions for the Lynx to miss out on the playoffs in 2026). Her cache as a head coach continues to grow, especially as we look ahead to this week and next week’s game, which can further cement her into the fabric of the WNBA.

Miles Restoring the feeling for Minnesota, Reeve

Olivia Miles #5 and Cheryl Reeve of the Minnesota Lynx

As mentioned, Reeve managed to bounce back with the Lynx in 2011 thanks to both key players returning from injury and Maya Moore’s sensational debut that season.

Miles, who was taken by the Lynx at 2nd overall, was praised by Reeve as the team’s first “real” point guard since Lindsey Whalen, adding, “she’s just really gifted.” She is, in a way, Reeve’s second swing at injecting rookie talent onto a roster already chock-full of veteran, postseason-proven pieces ready to run through a wall for a championship in 2026.

If her words on drafting Miles weren’t enough of an endorsement, the fact that Miles was fully given the reins of the Lynx’s backcourt as a rookie should speak even more to Reeve’s infatuation with the rookie. Reeve famously doesn’t give rookies much burn, but Miles is averaging 30.4 minutes per game along with 4.9 assists, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.4 steals. She’s well on her way to a Rookie of the Year award, All-WNBA first-team honors, and might already be making enough noise for some MVP votes. ​

Moore, similarly, netted a ROTY award in her rookie season, and she also earned All-Rookie honors in addition to an All-Star team nod. The same is likely in the cards for Miles, especially with Reeve giving her so much rope to lead this Lynx team to what looks like another postseason with high expectations.

This is all happening, of course, with no Collier on the floor for Minnesota. She’s continuing to recover from an ankle injury suffered in last year’s playoffs, but she’ll be ready to go far before the start of the WNBA playoffs. While chemistry could be a concern between Miles and Collier, having Reeve as the commander of this operation should bring some hope to Lynx fans that the duo will look just as electric as they do on paper when they’re actually on the court with one another.
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What Miles and Collier Could Look Like for Minnesota

The Minnesota Lynx celebrate after the game against the Atlanta Dream

Miles’ passing and Collier’s cutting are a match made in heaven. Natasha Howard, who has been filling in for Collier this season, is leading the WNBA in points in the paint per game (13.9). That’s no coincidence with Miles on the floor alongside her. They bounce off one another, especially in transition, which has helped them become one of the league’s faster offenses this season.

Her gravity is also weaponized by Reeve, as Miles has the second-most perimeter on-ball gravity minutes per game in the league (20) and second-most interior on-ball gravity minutes per game (4.6). ​

When Collier returns, that gravity might decrease, as Collier is a three-level scoring threat that warrants doubles from almost anywhere on the floor. But that just opens the door wide open for Miles, or Kayla McBride, or Courtney Williams, or any other number of Minnesota’s scoring threats to let loose. ​

Reeve is in a prime position to open up yet another dynasty run in 2026. At minimum, with Miles now fully integrated onto the roster and with Collier yet to return, Minnesota is the biggest threat to unseat the Las Vegas Aces as they careen towards another strong postseason push amid their current dynasty.