Sports

RandBall: The best team? It’s the Lynx, and then it’s everyone else

In the WNBA this season, and in Minnesota sports in general, the Lynx have set a lofty standard. Michael Rand explores that in today’s 10 things to know.

By Michael Rand

The Minnesota Star Tribune
September 12, 2025 at 3:54PM
Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve had plenty to smile about Thursday. (Richard Tsong-Taatarii/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

The Minnesota Lynx have been the best team in the WNBA this season from start to finish, and they have had the best player in the league from start to finish.

That in and of itself is an accomplishment. They Lynx set out to be that team, led by Napheesa Collier, while using last year’s NBA Finals travesty as their fuel. Grievance can be a dangerous motivator, but the Lynx pulled it off while being irresistibly fun along the way.

None of this guarantees them anything now that the playoffs are here, and there are sure to be a fresh round of doubts (my hand tentatively raised here) while casting a glance at No. 2 seeded Las Vegas and how the Aces ended the regular-season on a 16-game winning streak.

It would be just like a Minnesota team to have a dream season end short of a title.

Check that: It would be just like any Minnesota team other than the Lynx, as I talked about on Friday’s Daily Delivery podcast.

When was a Minnesota major pro sports team the clear-cut best team in its league in the last 30 years?

The Lynx were that team many times in the 2010s, winning four championships.

When else? The 1998 Vikings arguably were that team before playoff heartbreak befell them. The 2003-04 Timberwolves, with the top seed in the loaded West and Kevin Garnett as the MVP, were at least in that conversation. They, too, fell short.

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It’s never been the Twins in that span. It’s never been the Wild. It’s never been Minnesota United.

The Lynx are simply on another level in their own league and in their own state.

Here are nine more things to know today:

Related Coverage

  • Collier finished off a 50/40/90 season — 50% from the field, 40% from three, 90% from the line — in Thursday’s 72-53 win over Golden State, becoming just the second player to hit those marks in WNBA history. “It can be revealed now, but it was a goal of ours when we sat down with Phee, knowing that it would be a lofty goal, and had only been done once before, and that player was MVP of the league,” Reeve said. “Napheesa Collier has been the best player in the WNBA this season and deserves to be MVP.” Collier is both at the top of her game and still somehow underappreciated at times. Maybe an MVP award will change that.
    • Beating Golden State sets up a playoff rematch in the quarterfinals starting at noon Sunday against the expansion Valkyries, against whom Minnesota went 4-0 this year. It’s about as good of a draw as they could have hoped for, especially as they try to get injured reserve DiJonai Carrington healthy.
      • The Lynx could face New York (No. 5 seed) in the semifinals and Las Vegas (No. 2) in the finals. That’s a gantlet, but winning it all would only reinforce what we learned over 44 games this season.
        • It figures to be a tumultuous offseason with the WNBA collective bargaining agreement set to expire at the end of the playoffs. Two more expansion teams (Toronto and Portland) are set to join the league in 2026. It can be easy to worry about the future. Last month in my interview with Lynx players at the State Fair, Natisha Hiedeman had good advice for a fan who asked about that. “Don’t stress. We right here right now. We have one goal. We’ll figure out next year later.”
          • Star Tribune columnist La Velle E. Neal III had Lynx thoughts during his Friday appearance on the podcast. We also talked a lot about Kirill Kaprizov, J.J. McCarthy and the 2024 NFL QB draft class.
            • Speaking of that draft class, McCarthy and the Vikings will face another one (Michael Penix Jr., No. 8 overall) Sunday night when they host the Falcons.
              • You’ll get practice staying up late for football. Before that Sunday night Vikings game, it’s Gophers at Cal at 9:30 p.m. Saturday.
                • Are the Packers the best team in the NFC North? There’s a long way to go, but they have made their case with impressive wins over the Lions and Commanders in the first two weeks.
                  • Patrick Reusse is expected to be my guest on Monday’s podcast after he was off last week. We will have no shortage of things to talk about.
                    about the writer

                    about the writer

                    Michael Rand

                    Columnist / Reporter

                    Michael Rand is the Minnesota Star Tribune's Digital Sports Senior Writer and host/creator of the Daily Delivery podcast. In 25 years covering Minnesota sports at the Minnesota Star Tribune, he has seen just about everything (except, of course, a Vikings Super Bowl).

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