This is the first in Swish Appeal’s series of WNBA awards debates, where members of our staff will make a winning case for the leading candidates for the league’s major individual awards.
Up first, Coach of the Year.
Will a three-time winner earn the honor for a fourth time, credited for helping her team exceed expectations? Could another coach claim her second Coach of the Year award, celebrated for solidifying the championship chances for her so-called “super team”? Or, will a second-year coach be rewarded for keeping her now surging young team together through early season struggles?
Eric Nemchock outlines the candidacy of Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve, Edwin Garcia details why New York Liberty head coach Sandy Brondello is most deserving and Łukasz Muniowski gives credit to Indiana Fever head coach Christie Sides.
Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx)
Through early September, the Minnesota Lynx (26-9) have won over 74 percent of their regular-season games.
No, the year isn’t 2014. The Lynx dynasty that lasted nearly a decade and yielded six Finals runs and four championships is long gone. But Cheryl Reeve is still at the helm in Minnesota, and what her team has accomplished in 2024—Reeve’s fifteenth season with the franchise—harkens back to those glory days when the Lynx were the WNBA’s gold standard.
Oftentimes, a deciding factor in the WNBA’s Coach of the Year award is how each candidate’s respective team performs relative to expectations. By this measuring stick alone, Reeve has a great case; WNBA.com ranked the Lynx No. 6 in its preseason power rankings, while ESPN had them missing the playoffs at No. 9. Sportsbook BetMGM set Minnesota’s win total at over/under 16.5 and gave the Lynx the second-worst championship odds at +6000.
It’s safe to say Reeve’s Lynx have shattered those expectations. With five games to play, Minnesota is second in the WNBA standings, thanks in large part to unselfish play (76.8 percent assist rate; first in the WNBA) and defense (95.1 points allowed per 100 possessions; third in the WNBA)—two hallmarks of a well-coached team. The Lynx have also played well against the rest of the league’s best, earning winning records in their season series against the Las Vegas Aces and Seattle Storm and splitting two games with the New York Liberty. It should never be a surprise when a Reeve-coached team excels in the regular season, but the 2024 Lynx have been impressive even by the standards she’s set over the years, and it should earn her more than a few votes for Coach of the Year. — Eric Nemchock
Sandy Brondello (New York Liberty)
WNBA awards are meant to highlight the best performances we’ve witnessed this season. Without question, the job Sandy Brondello has done in New York is one of the main reasons the Liberty sit at the top of the WNBA standings and appear ready to win their first title.
After last year’s Finals run ended in defeat, the Liberty came back better than ever. We’ve seen Brondello’s players buy-in to her philosophies, such as Jonquel Jones sacrificing to fit the system and Sabrina Ionescu developing into the best version of herself. Ionescu already was a star, but now she’s approaching the “best player in the WNBA” tier. While still scoring baskets as a shooting guard, she now handles the ball more as a point guard, in addition to developing an ability to score inside the arc in ways she never has before. Ionescu is to be credited with this growth, but it’s happened under Brondello’s watchful eye, which has to be factored into her coaching performance this season.
A good coach would have success with New York’s roster, but only a great one would be able to make the pieces of Breanna Stewart, Ionescu and Jones fit perfectly. Currently sitting with a franchise record .829 winning percentage, Brondello has pushed all the right buttons, establishing the Liberty as the team to beat. Winning Coach of the Year isn’t Brondello or the Liberty’s main goal, but earning it would be a great feather in her cap and recognition of the consistency and dominance the Liberty have displayed all year long. — Edwin Garcia
Christie Sides (Indiana Fever)
While the focus of the basketball (and non-basketball) world is on her floor general, Caitlin Clark, don’t forget who’s in charge of the Fever’s turnaround. At the beginning of September, Christie Sides was named the first Coach of the Month in franchise history. Granted, the award was introduced in 2017, so Lin Dunn and Stephanie White missed out on the opportunity during their successful tenures as Fever head coaches. But you know what else has been going on since the 2017? The Fever’s streak of missing the playoffs.
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At the beginning of the season Coach Sides looked lost, almost out of her depth, with the Fever going 2-8 during their first 10 games. The defense was bad, the rotations didn’t make sense, especially at the end of games, and some were calling for the coach to be fired. But general manager Lin Dunn allowed her to work with the young roster and, with time, came results. Ever since she served as an assistant coach for Spartak Moscow in 2007, Sides has been full of positive energy and prioritized defense. At least that’s how her former players remember her, and that’s the same Sides they recognize today.
Sides also deserves credit for her management of personalities. Saying that Sides is winning because of Clark, undoubtedly a generational talent, is ignorant and simply unfair. Getting the rookie sensation to buy into Sides’ philosophy, while helping other players fulfill their roles and not feel overlooked in this media frenzy surrounding Clark, is probably the greatest interpersonal achievement of any WNBA coach this season. That’s worthy of an award on its own. — Łukasz Muniowski
