In a WNBA offseason defined by coaching turnover, the Minnesota Lynx made two big hires to round out head coach Cheryl Reeve’s staff, adding franchise legend Lindsay Whalen as an assistant coach and former Washington Mystics head coach Eric Thibault as associate head coach.
Whalen, who coached at her alma mater of Minnesota from 2018 to 2023, was the Lynx’s point guard during their dynastic run in the 2010s. Thibault has over a decade of coaching experience with the Mystics, for whom he served as head coach the past two seasons before his October firing.
“We worked hard to put our best foot forward for [our players] because we continue to have big goals for this group,” Reeve told ESPN. “I think this staff is well-positioned to help us get there.”
Behind superstar Napheesa Collier, the Lynx surpassed expectations to finish second in the regular-season standings and advanced to the Finals, falling to the New York Liberty in a winner-take-all Game 5.
The Minnesota hires come amid a staff restructuring. Earlier this offseason, associate head coach Katie Smith departed for Ohio State and general manager Clare Duwelius joined the new Unrivaled league.
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Reeve had attempted to hire Whalen two years ago, but the Naismith Hall of Famer said there was no convincing needed this time around.
“It just feels like it’s time to get back, work hard, and be a part of a team and a group,” Whalen told ESPN. “It just all felt like the timing was really right.”
Whalen, who retired after the 2018 campaign, watched closely this past summer as the Lynx had their best season in years, sitting courtside during the Finals in Minneapolis and in New York as the team came within seconds of a championship.
“She was really supportive,” Collier told ESPN. “Always congratulating after a good game or saying we got this after a loss … just really had that supportive role this whole time.”
Whalen joins a staff also featuring Rebekkah Brunson, a close friend and former Lynx teammate with whom she won four championships.
“I think it’s what makes us so unique at Minnesota; we have people who’ve been through what we’re going through,” Collier said. “They won so many championships in the place they’re coaching and we’re playing at now. … I feel super lucky I get to be a part of that.”
Reeve also hopes Whalen can provide guidance to Courtney Williams, having also “lived that life” as a point guard subject to Reeve’s high expectations for the position.
“I think having me will really help her take hopefully another step this year into continuing to lead the team and be a successful point guard for the franchise,” Whalen said.
Reeve sees both Thibault and Whalen as taking a hands-on approach to player development and anticipates their past experiences as head coaches will allow them to be even better assistants.
Thibault and Reeve developed a “mutual respect over the years,” in Thibault’s words, with the Lynx and Mystics frequently training against each other in the preseason. Reeve sat down with Thibault a few years ago to offer advice on making the move from assistant to head coach.
Before taking the helm in D.C., Thibault was associate head coach for his father, Mike, starting in 2019, the season the Mystics won their first WNBA title.
“You want to make sure you’re aligned where you are, and that wasn’t really the case anymore,” Thibault told ESPN about the Mystics. “I’ve got no ill feelings whatsoever towards D.C. … I felt gratitude towards D.C. as it all ended, and I feel a lot of gratitude towards Minnesota now.”
Reeve said Thibault has a “great feel” for the style of basketball she wants her Lynx teams to play — a five-out offense predicated on spacing the floor and sharing the ball — because it’s similar to how the Thibaults ran things in Washington.
She thought Thibault did a “tremendous” job last season, rallying an injury-laden team from starting 0-12 to being in the mix for the playoffs until the final day of the regular season.
“It was very clear the team continued to trust in what they were doing, trusted each other, trusted the leadership of Eric,” Reeve said.
Whalen and Thibault have their own intertwined history: Whalen played for Mike as part of the Connecticut Sun for six seasons. Carly Thibault-DuDonis, Eric’s sister, served as Whalen’s associate head coach at Minnesota. Whalen even recalls going to Eric’s high school basketball games.
“The Thibaults and the Whalens have always been very tight,” Eric Thibault said. “Now we get to put our heads together and try to help Cheryl and the Lynx get back to being champions.”
“I couldn’t imagine a better situation for me,” Whalen added. “I just am so excited, really, for all of it.”
