Ask anyone who’s played for Cheryl Reeve, and they’ll tell you, she’s not the type to pat you on the back just for showing up. As she herself once put it, she is “not warm and fuzzy,” and that about sums it up. She’s the coach who snaps back, calls out. You don’t hug Cheryl Reeve; you learn from her, you grow under her, and, more often than not, you win with her. And that’s the thing people forget when they talk about the mighty Lynx. You’re not just going up against Minnesota. You’re going up against one of the most brilliant basketball minds. 

And why is she the most dangerous at this very moment? A CBS journalist explained it best. 

We already know Minnesota and Phoenix are set for the semi-finals. Minnesota swept past Golden State to punch its ticket here, while Phoenix knocked out the defending champs, the New York Liberty, the very team that stopped the Lynx last year. And while both top seeds have looked every bit the part this season, it’s not just about the players, the strengths, or even the weaknesses.

As Erica L. Ayala pointed out, “You’ve got Nate Tibbetts going up against Cheryl Reeve.” Now, Tibbetts has been building his reputation pretty quick. I mean, it’s only his second year with the Mercury, a team folks thought was supposed to be in rebuild mode, and here they are in the semis. But Reeve is a whole different ballgame. She’s basically done it all in this league. She’s the all-time winningest coach, and more than all the hardware she’s racked up, she still brings that fire.

“She might not throw them blazers in the crowd like she used to, but sis is still a good coach,” Ayala added. And in case you’re wondering what that’s about, back in 2012, during Game 2 of the WNBA Finals against the Indiana Fever, Reeve got so frustrated with the refs she literally yanked off her jacket and hurled it at an assistant after picking up a technical. 

Fast forward, and Ayala broke it down perfectly on “We Need To Talk” alongside Alicia Jay and Ashley Nicole Moss. “And she’s already feeling some kind of way about, you know, awards season and maybe her team being disrespected.” 

“She was feeling disrespected and how game five went. She’s feeling a little disrespect, feeling a little salty. She decided to carry, you know, that bag of salt with her all season and now I don’t know, Vegas gave her more fuel,” she added. “So, she’s gonna have some things on that whiteboard that are going to have this team ready to go.”

And let’s not forget, this whole season has basically been a revenge run for Minnesota. Last year, they claimed the title “was stolen from them” after that wild Game 5 of the Finals, a 67-62 overtime heartbreaker. Reeve didn’t hold back either. “I know the headlines will be, ‘Reeve cries foul,’ “ she said. “Bring it on. Bring it on — because this (expletive) was stolen from us.”  She was furious over the free-throw gap that night. New York got 25 chances at the line while Minnesota only had eight.

So yes, the Lynx have carried that chip on their shoulder all year, and they’ve been first to just about everything right out of the gate. And if you think that was the end of it, there’s more fuel on the fire. Becky Hammon’s comments after the Co-Defensive Player of the Year award stirred the pot even further.

Hammon said she couldn’t believe how A’ja Wilson and Alanna Smith shared it and then dropped this line. “A white-tailed deer looks really good until an elk walks in the room,” basically calling Wilson the elk and Smith the deer. It didn’t take long for Reeve to clap back. During Smith’s award ceremony on September 19, she praised Smith as a role model, but ended her words with one final line: “We love our white deer.” Subtle, Reeve! 

So sure, all of this – last year’s heartbreak, the salt from awards season, including advocating for Napheesa Collier’s MVP – it’s all stacked up to fuel Reeve and the Lynx as they already lead regular-season series. So Mercury better watch out! 

And along with that, there’s also that bigger drive for history pushing them too.

Cheryl Reeve’s chase for title no. 5

Ayala also slyly pointed out, “She [Reeve] is from Jersey.” And well, if there’s one thing pop culture has drilled into us, it’s that Jersey folks are fiery, outspoken, and tough. That whole “Jersey attitude” has kind of become its own brand. So, we’ll go ahead and assume they carry the win-at-all-costs gene too.

Led by someone representing that exact attitude, Minnesota couldn’t have dreamed of a better start to its postseason run than sweeping the Valkyries. As the one-seed, they handled their business, and in the process, Cheryl Reeve etched her name into WNBA history. That win marked her 414th career victory (regular season and postseason combined), making her the all-time winningest coach in the league. And now, after Game 3, it’s 415. She passed Mike Thibault, who built his legacy with the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics, finishing at 413.

Reeve has been at the helm in Minnesota since 2010, racking up 364 regular-season wins and 51 playoff victories. But she’s not just chasing numbers anymore. She’s eyeing something elusive, something that would set her apart forever: a record fifth title. Sure, if you asked Reeve in a different world, she might admit that the thought of “six titles” creeps in sometimes. Fans remind her of it. The wounds of 2016 and 2024 are still fresh, two years where the Lynx, at least in their eyes, were “robbed” of a championship.

So now, after doing just about everything possible in this league, Reeve has her shot at cementing the kind of greatness that leaves no debate. But can Phoenix stand in her way? Or are we about to watch Jersey fire burn its way to title number five?