Minnesota Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve has been named the 2024 WNBA Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year, the league announced on Sunday. This is just the second time (Curt Miller, 2017) that one person has won both awards in the same season.
Reeve, who has been the head coach of the Lynx since 2010, has now won four Coach of the Year awards, surpassing Van Chancellor and Mike Thibault for the most all-time. Furthermore, this is her second Executive of the Year honor, which is tied for the most ever with Dan Padover.
As the Lynx’s president of basketball operations, Reeve played a key role in their offseason maneuvers that included signing Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams in free agency, re-signing Bridget Carleton and trading for Natisha Hiedeman. She also swung a mid-season trade for Myisha Hines-Allen, who has proved to be a key rotation player down the stretch.
Those new additions played a major role in the Lynx’s phenomenal season, which Reeve oversaw on the floor. They got off to a 14-4 start, which no one expected, then proved it was no fluke by winning 13 of 15 games after the Olympic break. All told, they won a franchise-record 30 games and earned the No. 2 overall seed in the playoffs.
Under Reeve’s instruction, the Lynx boasted the second-best defensive rating (94.8) and led the league in 3-point shooting (38.0%). A number of players enjoyed career seasons, and earned major individual honors. Napheesa Collier finished second in MVP voting, won Defensive Player of the Year and was named to the All-Defensive First Team, while Alanna Smith made All-Defensive Second Team. Collier and Kayla McBride were also All-Stars.
The Lynx swept the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs and will now face the Connecticut Sun in the semifinals. Game 1 of that series is set for Sunday at 8:30 p.m. ET.
Coach of the Year is voted on by the media, and Reeve was the runaway winner.
Cheryl Reeve
Lynx
62
Sandy Brondello
Liberty
4
Christie Sides
Fever
1
Executive of the Year, on the other hand, is voted on by the top executive from each team. They could not vote for themselves, and submitted a ballot with a first, second and third choice. Reeve won by being on the most ballots (10). Seattle Storm general manager Talisa Rhea came in second on eight ballots, while Darius Taylor of the Sun was third with seven ballots.
