The Minnesota Lynx hired former Washington Mystics coach Eric Thibault as associate head coach and former Lynx star and University of Minnesota coach Lindsay Whalen as an assistant coach, coach Cheryl Reeve announced Saturday.
Thibault and Whalen will fill the spot left vacant by Katie Smith, who joined Ohio State’s staff, and add a fourth assistant coaching spot on the Lynx bench. The WNBA runners-up have yet to announce a general manager hire, a spot vacated by Clare Duwelius, who left in November to become the GM and executive vice president of the new basketball league, Unrivaled.
“I am excited to add both Eric and Lindsay to our coaching staff,” Reeve said in a statement Saturday. “Eric has vast experience coaching in the WNBA as both a head and an assistant coach and is a WNBA Champion. Lindsay adds a unique perspective as a Lynx legend and Naismith Hall of Famer. I look forward to working with both in our quest for another WNBA Championship.”
WELCOME BACK, WHAY. 💙 pic.twitter.com/Zytd6UyznU
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) November 30, 2024
Thibault, a longtime Mystics assistant under his father Mike Thibault, spent the last two seasons as the Mystics’ head coach. The franchise went 33-47 in those two seasons, making the playoffs in 2023 but failing to make the top eight in 2024, which was considered a rebuilding season.
Thibault was an assistant on the Washington staff during the franchise’s most successful seasons in 2018 and 2019, when the Mystics advanced to the WNBA Finals, losing in 2018 and winning in 2019.
His hiring is the latest development in the WNBA’s offseason coaching carousel, which saw numerous teams including the Mystics part with their coaches in recent weeks.
“I’m thrilled to be joining Cheryl’s staff and to be part of the Minnesota Lynx organization,” Thibault said in a statement Saturday. “The players and staff have built an incredible winning culture, and I’m excited to do my part as we pursue a WNBA Championship.”
welcome to Minnesota, Eric! pic.twitter.com/gFm8EmxBUj
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) November 30, 2024
It’s a homecoming for Whalen, who grew up in Minnesota and spent nine seasons playing for the Lynx, including winning four WNBA championships between 2011 and 2017. Whalen holds the Lynx’s franchise record in assists (1,384) and ranks fifth in scoring (3,233). The team retired her jersey in 2019.
Whalen played for just two clubs in her career: the Connecticut Sun (coached by Mike Thibault) and the Lynx (where she was coached by Reeve), in addition to an international playing career and a gold for the U.S. at the 2012 Olympics.
After retiring, Whalen spent five seasons as the head coach of the Minnesota Gophers from 2018 to 2023. It was her first time on the sideline as a coach. The hometown star who put Minnesota on the map with a Final Four run during her senior season in 2004 was never able to recapture that kind of success as a coach, only making the WNIT postseason tournament twice.
“I’m so excited to be back with the Lynx and back with Coach and Becky (Rebekkah Brunson),” Whalen said in a statement Saturday. “Eric and I have also known each other for a long time, and for me, I couldn’t imagine joining a better staff as I return to coaching and get my first opportunity to coach in the WNBA. We have a special group with this team and I can’t wait to get to work.”
The two hires bring much familiarity back to Minnesota for Reeve as she has long histories with both the Thibault family and Whalen.
Reeve and Mike Thibault, a Saint Paul, Minn., native, have known one another for years. He took over the Connecticut Sun in 2003 and drafted Whalen out of Minnesota in 2004. In 2010, when Reeve became the Lynx head coach after spending nine seasons as an assistant at various franchises, Minnesota — which was trying to bring Whalen back to the Lynx for several seasons — was finally successful in navigating a trade with Thibault and the Sun. Reeve also selected Mike Thibault as an assistant for her Team USA Olympic staff this summer ahead of the Paris Games.
In 2024, the Lynx had its most successful season since the Whalen years, winning the Commissioner’s Cup and advancing to the WNBA Finals, where Minnesota lost in five games to the New York Liberty. The Lynx return its core from that playoff run in 2025, including WNBA defensive player of the year Napheesa Collier, as well as standouts Alanna Smith, Kayla McBride, Courtney Williams and Bridget Carleton. Minnesota also has the No. 11 pick in the 2025 WNBA Draft.
Required reading
- WNBA coaching carousel latest: Will the Wings, Mystics or Sun be next to hire?
- Mystics part with GM Mike Thibault, coach Eric Thibault in latest WNBA staff shakeup
- Early WNBA power rankings: Who will be the best team next season? Liberty or Lynx?
(Photo: Jordan Johnson / NBAE via Getty Images)
