Pulling double duty as head coach and president of basketball operations is no small feat, but if anyone can do it, it’s Cheryl Reeve. The Minnesota Lynx head coach is pushing 60, but can still be seen animatedly supporting her team from the sidelines. Fans will remember when Reeve was assessed a $15,000 fine for her sideline outburst when the Minnesota Lynx faced the Phoenix Mercury in the 2025 playoff semifinal series. It seems her passion has paid off once more, as Cheryl Reeve joined elite company this season after winning another prestigious award.
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Cheryl Reeve was recently named the WNBA Executive of the Year for the 2026 season. The WNBA took to X to celebrate Reeve’s historic achievement, becoming only the second executive ever to win the award thrice.
“From Coach of the Year to Executive of the Year 👏 Congratulations to Cheryl Reeve of the @minnesotalynx for earning yet another honor in 2026! Reeve also won the award in 2019 and 2024, joining Atlanta’s Executive VP and GM Dan Padover with a record three selections.”
Reeve took over the Lynx in 2010 and transformed them into a dynasty, winning four championships in seven years. After a disastrous first season, when the Lynx ended with a record of 13-21, 2011 saw the Lynx add Maya Moore to the roster. Moore, under Reeve’s keen eye, led the Lynx to the championship with a regular season record of 27–7.
This was the Lynx’s first-ever championship, and it led to Reeve’s first-ever Coach of the Year win. And she hasn’t looked back since.
Reeve led the Lynx to three more championships (2013, 2015, 2017), tying the Houston Comets and the Seattle Storm for most WNBA titles. This season too, she coached the Lynx to the top seed in the playoffs, finishing the regular season with an incredible record of 33-11. However, the team was swept by the New York Liberty in the very first round of the playoffs. She still won the Executive of the Year award as it measures regular season success and not playoff outcomes, with Atlanta Dream’s Dan Padover coming in second.
The success she has brought the franchise has won her the Executive of the Year award for the first time in 2019. This was the same year the Lynx drafted franchise star Napheesa Collier with the sixth overall pick. The Lynx entered the playoffs with the seventh seed, but lost to the Seattle Storm in round 1. That year, Reeve received 28 points from a panel made up of one executive from each team in the league, with Dan Padover finishing in close second. Padover, now Atlanta Dream GM, previously held the same role with Las Vegas.
The second time Reeve won the award was in 2024, which was also the year she won her fourth WNBA Coach of the Year award, which made her the first WNBA coach to win the award four or more times. Her Executive of the Year win in 2024 made her the second executive back then to win the award more than once, the first being Padover, who won in 2020 and 2021, the same year he became the Atlanta Dream’s general manager. He then won the award again in 2025.
Reeve has now equalized the record with her third Executive of the Year win this year. But it did not come easy, as her coaching led her to break another significant WNBA milestone with the Lynx this season.
Cheryl Reeve becomes the winningest coach in WNBA history this season
Despite being knocked out of the playoffs by the New York Liberty, it has been an incredible season for the Minnesota Lynx and for Cheryl Reeve. The team’s season-ending record, 33-11, is their second-best record ever. Their best record also came under Reeve in 2025, when the team finished the regular season at 34-10, but eventually lost to the Mercury in the semis.
Reeve proved her front-office excellence in roster building as this season saw the Lynx add one of their most prolific scorers in years, adding to her case for Executive of the Year. Rookie Olivia Miles took over the role of their primary scoring engine during Napheesa Collier’s early-season absence. Miles led the Lynx in scoring all season with 19.8 PPG and in assists, with six APG.
Miles, under Reeve’s guidance, won the Rookie of the Year award, with the Lynx boasting three veterans to support the young player – Collier, Kayla McBride, and Natasha Howard. This core has led the Lynx to their second-most wins in a season and pushed Reeve to a whole new level.
Reeve became the winningest coach in WNBA history this season, passing Mike Thibault’s previous record. Reeve recorded her 380th career win on July 8, 2026, when the Lynx defeated the Connecticut Sun 86-80 at Mohegan Sun Arena. She surpassed Mike Thibault’s previous record of 379 wins. She even acknowledged the great Thibault after the record.
“I learned a lot from Mike through the years,” she said. “Tremendous coach. So much respect that we’ve had for each other through the years. I know he’s happy for me. And somebody’s going to pass me, and I’ll be happy for them, too.”
The Lynx under Reeve this season boasted a jaw-dropping 10-game win streak between July 11 and August 12. Despite all of this, the Lynx fell out of playoff contention, becoming the first top-seeded team to be swept by the 8th-seeded team in a WNBA playoff series. The Liberty, too, were swept in the next round by the Atlanta Dream, who will face the Golden State Valkyries in the 2026 WNBA Finals.