Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was named the 2026 WNBA Coach of the Year, the league announced Monday. Reeve, who is in her 17th season in charge of the Lynx, has now won the honor five times, extending her own league record. She is also the first coach in major American professional sports history to win five Coach of the Year awards.
Reeve, who led the Lynx to a 33-11 record and the No. 1 seed for the second season in a row despite a significant amount of change, beat out Golden State Valkyries coach Natalie Nakase (the 2025 winner) and Washington Mystics coach Sydney Johnson. Reeve received 40 votes from a 74-person media panel. The Lynx, who won a franchise-record 34 games last season to earn the No. 1 seed, crashed out of the 2025 playoffs in the semifinals after blowing multiple double-digit leads and losing star forward Napheesa Collier to a season-ending injury.
Reeve herself was suspended for their season-ending defeat for her reaction to Collier's injury, which included accusing the league of malpractice. In the offseason, Collier underwent surgery on both ankles, which ultimately kept her out until late July. The Lynx also lost six rotation players from last season's team between the double expansion draft for the Portland Fire and Toronto Tempo and free agency.
Even with the addition of veterans Natasha Howard and Nia Brodie, and No. 2 pick Olivia Miles, no one expected the Lynx to be a contender. But Reeve helped guide the Lynx to an 8-2 start, and they never looked back. They had a 10-game winning streak in the middle of the summer that was the longest by any team this season, and held the No. 1 seed from July 12 onward.
The Lynx finished third in offensive rating (112.1), fourth in defensive rating (103.5) and second in net rating (plus-8.6). The moment Coach Reeve got the news 🥹Cheryl Reeve is the 2026 @StateStreetETFs SPY WNBA Coach of the Year after another standout season leading Minnesota.#WNBASeason30 pic.twitter.com/hSh9D7W8U0 During a win over the Connecticut Sun on July 8, Reeve won her 380th game to become the winningest coach in WNBA history, surpassing Mike Thibault. Reeve finished the season with 397 wins, and is now just three away from becoming the first coach ever to 400 wins.
Reeve has previously won Coach of the Year in 2011, 2016, 2020 and 2024. Ironically, Reeve has led the Lynx to four titles during her tenure, but has only won Coach of the Year and the championship in the same season once in 2011. There's a good chance that trend continues after the Lynx dropped Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series at home against the No. 8 seed New York Liberty on Sunday.
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