Winningest coach in the WNBA: Insight into Cheryl Reeve's success
Four WNBA championships, a gold medal Olympian and a four-time coach of the year — Cheryl Reeve has had an amazing career, and she's about to lead the Minnesota Lynx into her 17th home opener on Saturday.
Reeve's coaching bug was born as a youth basketball camp counselor during college.
"I always say it was my aha moment. I didn't necessarily know then how much of an aha moment it was, but I felt something. I remember it very, very vividly and I knew I didn't want to be done with basketball," she said.
Her first job in the WNBA came in 2001, making only 5,000 dollars.
"I said, 'Let's go. I'm in! I'm in! They gave me an apartment. I really made it. But I just loved the game that much," Reeve said.
She spent 10 seasons bouncing around the WNBA at the assistant level, working for teams that folded, but she never gave up.
"If it was going to go down, I was going to go down with the ship. I believed that strongly, and thankfully it's worked out pretty well," Reeve said.
That shift in fortune happened in 2009 when she landed her first head coaching role with the Minnesota Lynx.
Reeve decided she would do something unique at the time: lay roots, staying in Minnesota year-round.
"Because you get to learn so much about a community and the ways you can connect with it, so I thought that was a great decision," she said.
A community that became her well-known, loyal supporters.
"I'm proud of who our fan base is today and what people think of the Minnesota Lynx fan base. I'm super proud of that and I think we've done this together," Reeve said.
Her 17th season at the helm of the Lynx and her 25th in the WNBA is a special one, witnessing the largest growth in player salaries and equity in league history.
"We were told so many times that our worth wasn't that great, and this generation is not accepting that in their courage and the way that they're showing up," Reeve said.
With more power in the hands of the players, several Lynx players made big moves to other teams, leaving just five returners.
"The challenge I've always enjoyed when you're faced with it is to figure out this new iteration of success, and I just know we're going to try really hard to make that happen," Reeve said.
You can listen to the full WoMN in Sports podcast with Reeve on YouTube.