Lynx star Napheesa Collier: ‘The pressure is from knowing what we’re capable of’

The Lynx were supposed to have Tuesday off.

The preseason over, the Friday opener at Dallas looming, the plan was to practice Monday, rest a day, then have two final days of work before hitting the road.

But then Monday happened: a lackluster practice that annoyed Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve to the point that she ended it early.

“The way we showed up today, it seemed like they were not interested in being here, working on anything,” Reeve said. “It was, ‘So we don’t have a game ‘til Friday, why are we here?’ ”

Not surprisingly, the day off was canceled.

Minnesota is about to, for the most part roster-wise, run it back from the team that reached Game 5 of the WNBA Finals last season when the 2025 season starts at Dallas — and Paige Bueckers — on Friday night.

From the start of camp a couple of weeks ago, the theme has been that the team, frustrated with the way that overtime game Game 5 ended, will enter this season with a chip on its collective shoulder. Perhaps Reeve’s annoyance with her team Monday reinforced the message that Friday is the start of another journey, one that comes with no guarantee of similar success.

Every team looks for motivation. Last year, with the addition of Alanna Smith and Courtney Williams occurring mostly under the national media’s radar, many experts picked the Lynx to finish as low as eighth in the WNBA. That fact was mentioned again and again as the Lynx sprinted out of the gate 10-3, won the Commissioner’s Cup title, returned from the Olympic Break to go 13-2 down the stretch, then pushed their way to the league finals.

This year, the pressure comes from trying to duplicate that.

“There is pressure,” said Napheesa Collier. She is one of a number of Lynx players coming off career years. Collier was the league’s defensive player of the year, an All-Star, runner-up in MVP voting. Smith had her best season, as did Bridget Carleton. “The pressure is from knowing what we’re capable of. But I’ve always said I like pressure. I think it helps you perform to your best self.”

On paper, the continuity from last year’s team is impressive. All five starters are back, as is top reserve guard Natisha Hiedeman.

But there could be issues.

Smith, meanwhile, is dealing with a quad issue that occurred late last week, limiting her in practice leading up to the opener.

And there are some key new faces. Jessica Shepard is back after taking a year off. She appears to be set to take the roster spot held by Dorka Juhász, who will take the WNBA season off. She is a strong rebounder and facilitator from the post.

The Lynx traded for off-guard Karlie Samuelson, a consistent three-point shooter, but she was wearing a brace on her shooting hand/thumb at Tuesday’s workout.

It takes time to integrate key new faces in any event. The fact that Reeve has yet to have her starting five, as a unit, in a practice?

“We’re not quite there, identity-wise,” Reeve said. “Not having all five [starters] getting the work together. But you deal with stuff every year.”

“I don’t think we’re anywhere near close right now,” Reeve said. “Defensively, we’re still trying to find our way.”

The Lynx open at Dallas on Friday and play at Los Angeles on Sunday before returning for the home opener against Dallas on May 21. The roster was cut to 12 on Wednesday when Grace Berger was waived. There are four games in eight days to start the season.

It is important to use last season as motivation but not assume a return trip to the playoffs is guaranteed.

“It’s like we say all the time,” Courtney Williams said. “You don’t just jump to the Finals. You have to stack your days. You have to build that chemistry back. We have to work, we have to grind. We understand that. Hopefully, we can do what we did last year. But we can’t come into it with the idea it will gel right out of the gate.”

It was that urgency, perhaps, that ended Monday’s practice early and brought the players back again Tuesday.

The good news is Reeve said Tuesday the team responded with one of its best practices of the year. A silver lining, perhaps. The team regrouped and gained momentum that it can carry into the season.