A fourth Coach of the Year honor for Reeve?

Cheryl Reeve has the Minnesota Lynx back in contention for a title, and she’s back in the running for another Coach of the Year award. However, Reeve has challengers in the Chicago Sky’s Teresa Weatherspoon and New York Liberty’s Sandy Brondello.

In professional sports, a coach often gets much of the blame when things are going poorly, and little credit when things are going well.

During the 2024 WNBA season, however, several head honchos have shown that they deserve credit—and then some—for the performances of their squads: the Minnesota Lynx’s Cheryl Reeve, the Chicago Sky’s Teresa Weatherspoon and the New York Liberty’s Sandy Brondello. In turn, they’ve put themselves squarely in consideration for Coach of the Year honors, at least based on a half season of evidence.

---

Cheryl Reeve (Minnesota Lynx)

Photo by David Berding/Getty Images

No, Cheryl Reeve has not lost her fastball. After a few wayward seasons following the retirement of franchise legends, Reeve has the Minnesota Lynx back in the position they occupied for much of the 2010s: near the top of the league and in contention for a championship.

While Minnesota made a series of shrewd offseason moves to upgrade their roster around a burgeoning MVP candidate in Napheesa Collier, Reeve has optimized those players’ contributions, with Courtney Williams thriving as a primary playmaker and Alanna Smith making a big impact by doing all the little things. Returning members of the Lynx also have blossomed under Reeve, epitomized not by Collier—who likely would be great in any situation—but by Kayla McBride, Bridget Carleton and Cecilia Zandalasini, back in Minnesota after not playing in the WNBA since 2018. The trio fires away with confidence from behind the arc, led by McBride—an All-Star for the first time since 2019—shooting 43.8 percent from 3 on almost seven attempts per game.

Reeve also has the Lynx playing one of the league’s most aesthetically-pleasing brands of basketball, with an offensive attack that emphasizes ball movement and 3-point shooting and a defensive identity founded on aggression and attention to detail. Of course, it’s the results that matter, and those have come for Minnesota. They lead the league in 3-point shooting and defense, helping them earn a 15-6 record and the Commissioner’s Cup Championship.

The uncertainty around Collier’s recent foot injury could cause Minnesota to lose some of their mojo, slide down the standings and, in turn, weaken Reeve’s Coach of the Year candidacy. Alternatively, if the Lynx can maintain their third spot in the standings while Collier potentially misses a significant amount of time, Reeve could all but lock down her fourth Coach of the Year trophy.

Teresa Weatherspoon (Chicago Sky)

Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images

Teresa Weatherspoon embodies the head coach ideal. She’s intense and inspirational. She holds players accountable while also empowering them. She infuses her team with a drive to win without sacrificing developmental opportunities.

She’s also engineered the rapid rejuvenation of the Chicago Sky. When it was announced that the Sky would be trading Kahleah Cooper to the Phoenix Mercury during the 2024 offseason, Chicago seem destined to drift into irrelevancy. Instead, a squad featuring a mix of journeywoman veterans and young, high-profile stars quickly has coalesced under Weatherspoon into a team that oozes camaraderie.

She’s proven the perfect coach for Angel Reese, quieting any concerns about how the No. 7 overall draft pick’s game would translate to the WNBA by breathing confidence into who Reese is and can be, both on and off the court. The emergence of Chennedy Carter further certifies Weatherspoon’s special touch. A player whose talent never was in question, Carter had struggled to find her place in the WNBA. Supported by Weatherspoon, Carter has flourished, allowing her to show off her superstar-level offensive skill.

For Weatherspoon to capture Coach of the Year honors in her first season in the Windy City, she’ll likely need to accumulate more tangible proof of her intangible impact. At 8-12, the Sky currently occupy the eighth spot in the standings. That’s good enough to sneak into the playoffs, but a stronger record and resume might be required for Weatherspoon to earn some extra hardware.

Sandy Brondello (New York Liberty)

Photo by Catalina Fragoso/NBAE via Getty Images

While all coaches get most of the blame and little of the credit, that’s especially true of coaches of so-called “super teams.”

Yes, it might seem easy to coach a team with a pair of former MVPs, one the league’s best 3-point shooters, one of the best point guards in the history of the league and a role player extraordinaire. Sandy Brondello, however, has expertly helmed a New York Liberty team that entered the season with the highest of expectations: a championship. She has her squad on track to be in the best position possible to achieve that ambition, all while not overextending her players, even as the Liberty have encountered some adversity.

After an uneven debut season in New York, Jonquel Jones again has flashed her MVP form, scoring more efficiently than ever both inside and beyond the arc as she has found a more comfortable, impactful role within the Liberty’s league-leading offense. That offense also has hummed because of Sabrina Ionescu, who, in the absence of Courtney Vandersloot, has taken a leap as a playmaker and scorer. The play of that pair, along with the the ever-reliable efforts of Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, has allowed Breanna Stewart to assume a reduced offensive burden. Brondello has deftly managed an almost all-new bench unit as well, a task made more challenging due to Nyara Sabally’s extended time on the injury report. New York also has improved their defense, with a defensive of rating of 96.3 compared to 99.4 last season.

Regular season accomplishments, including a No. 1 seed, will not determine whether or not the Liberty’s season is a success; the postseason will be the judge. That said, how Brondello guides New York throughout the season should not be discounted. A second Coach of the Year award—10 years after her first—could be deserved.