"We Don't Want to Leave Anything on the Table" — The Lynx Are Done Waiting with Minnesota Star Tribune's women's sports reporter, Cassidy Hettesheimer

The Minnesota Lynx own one of the best records in the WNBA heading into the playoffs, and Star Tribune women's sports reporter Cassidy Hettesheimer joins Hoopsology to unpack exactly how they got here — and why anything short of a championship this year will feel like unfinished business. Cassidy traces the season back to training camp, when even head coach Cheryl Reeve wasn't sure what to expect with Napheesa Collier sidelined recovering from double ankle surgery.

What nobody fully anticipated was Olivia Miles: a rookie the coaching staff projected using full veteran statistical benchmarks rather than typical rookie expectations, who has since exceeded even that. Cassidy breaks down what makes Miles unique among a historically strong rookie class — a playmaking gift that makes everyone around her better, unlocking rim pressure the Lynx offense didn't have in years past — and shares a wonderfully human detail about Miles' transition to the league: figuring out where to sit at the team cafeteria table while simultaneously being trusted to direct All-Stars on the floor.

Cassidy details the old-school, mentor-driven culture Cheryl Reeve has built around her, with veterans like Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams intentionally embracing and elevating their rookie floor general. The conversation turns emotional when discussing Napheesa Collier's road back.

Cassidy explains how Collier, a deeply goal-oriented player, is drawing on a hard lesson from 2022 — when she rushed back too quickly to share the floor with retiring legend Sylvia Fowles and paid for it in her offseason recovery — to take a slower, more deliberate approach this time, telling reporters she still felt around 80-85% recovered even a month after her return. Cassidy also shares how Collier's FIBA World Cup selection became a meaningful part of that process, giving her valuable competitive reps as a two-time Olympian while representing her country.

From there, the two discuss why this season carries championship-or-bust weight after the Lynx's gutting 2024 Finals loss to the Liberty and a disappointing early playoff exit in 2025, and how Minnesota's league-worst free-throw rate could become a real vulnerability against the physical playoff basketball ahead. The episode closes with two well-deserved shoutouts: Kayla McBride's quietly spectacular age-34 season, including her best scoring numbers since 2018 and a franchise single-game three-point record, and a league-wide nod to the Washington Mystics' exciting, ahead-of-schedule youth rebuild. 🏀 Subscribe to Hoopsology Podcast for in-depth NBA and WNBA conversations, insider interviews, and breaking news breakdowns you won't find anywhere else. 👉 Follow Cassidy Hettesheimer: X/Instagram @CassidyHett, and read her Lynx coverage at . 👉 Drop a comment: Is this finally the Lynx's championship season? #MinnesotaLynx #WNBA #OliviaMiles #NapheesaCollier #Hoopsology Learn more about your ad choices.

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