Want championships, Minnesota? Check out the Frost and Lynx<\/a><\/p>\n\u201cSecond half, it kind of seemed like we kind of rolled over a little bit, but that\u2019s never in my DNA. I\u2019m going to compete until the end, and I think that kind of stuck out to her, the fight that I have. It\u2019s not even something I think about, because that\u2019s just how I play, regardless if it\u2019s Game 5 or Game 1 of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Reeve first inquired about Carrington last winter. Reeve didn\u2019t know Carrington personally, so she spoke with Williams and Natisha Hiedeman, Carrington\u2019s former teammates in Connecticut, as well as Smith, who played three seasons with Carrington at Stanford. (Reeve still abides by a \u201cno knuckleheads\u201d rule, instituted during the dynasty years, to never knowingly bring in someone who poisons team culture and chemistry.)\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nothing developed right away; the Sun dealt Carrington to Dallas in February as part of a four-team trade. But with Dallas struggling this season, general manager Curt Miller sought to move her. Reeve and Miller know each other well, from coaching together with USA Basketball and against each other in the WNBA. The final details came together the morning of August 3.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe best trades are win-win,\u201d Reeve said, \u201cand Curt and I both feel very much this is a win-win.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meeting the team in Seattle, Carrington came off the bench to score 13 points, the most by a Lynx reserve in her debut since 2008, when Chard\u00e9 Houston put up 21 and Candice Wiggins 15 in the season opener against Detroit. Carrington added four rebounds, two assists, two steals and one significant block.<\/p>\n
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP25204035077397-scaled.jpg\")
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (24) dribbles down the court during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the Chicago Sky Tuesday, July 22, 2025, in Minneapolis. Credit: Abbie Parr\/AP<\/p>\n
The Lynx needed more from everyone without Collier, the league scoring leader and MVP favorite who sprained her right ankle three nights earlier in Las Vegas. Carrington did her part, pouring in 10 points in the fourth quarter to key the 91-87 victory. The quarter began with Carrington sky-ing to block a Tiffany Mitchell layup left-handed, then drilling a 3-pointer, sparking a game-deciding 16-4 run.<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout her,\u201d Hiedeman said, \u201cwe don\u2019t win that game.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lynx fans concurred, giving her a standing ovation Aug. 8 when she checked in for the first time at Target Center. Carrington sported a different look that night against Washington, changing the color of her long, flowing hair from blonde to a light pink. That was a nod to pink-haired pals Williams and Hiedeman, aka the StudBudz.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve told them I\u2019m the FemBud with my pink hair,\u201d Carrington said. \u201cIt\u2019s not their same color, but we\u2019re locked in for sure. I think they need a little blond in there or something, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
McBride usually defends the other team\u2019s best perimeter scorer, a task that sometimes requires sacrificing offense. In Sunday\u2019s 83-71 victory in Brooklyn, Carrington filled some of that duty, checking the Liberty\u2019s Sabrina Ionescu. With fresher legs, All-Star McBride hit four 3-pointers on her way to a game-high 18 points. Carrington chipped in 15 points, eight in the third quarter, as the Lynx beat a Liberty squad without Breanna Stewart (right knee bone bruise) and two other players.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cTaking a little bit of that load off, it helps a lot,\u201d McBride told reporters at Sunday\u2019s postgame press conference. \u201cSo I\u2019m very, very grateful. I told Cheryl it was like a luxury to have that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Championship window<\/p>\n
There\u2019s some urgency to all this. Most WNBA veterans structured their contracts to be unrestricted free agents after this season, when the Collective Bargaining Agreement expires. Dorka Juh\u00e1sz, currently playing in Turkey, and Russian rookie Anastasiia Olairi Kosu are the only Lynx signed for next season, per the web site Her Hoop Stats.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The Lynx would undoubtedly use the league\u2019s \u201ccore\u201d designation to keep Collier if Reeve thought she might leave. Most Lynx players like it here. But some, like Carrington, may accept better offers elsewhere. This could be their last shot at a championship in Minnesota.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m a winner, and this is a winning organization,\u201d Carrington said. \u201cIt\u2019s definitely a good feeling to be recognized by some people at the top. Obviously, I miss my teammates in Dallas. I built great sisterhood with them. But at the end of the day, it\u2019s about basketball, it\u2019s about winning, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m here to do.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tRelated<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In the weeks leading up to the WNBA trade deadline, Lynx coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":82076,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3,99,434],"class_list":["post-82075","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82075","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=82075"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/82075\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/82076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=82075"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=82075"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=82075"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"a](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/AP25192153709998-scaled.jpg\")
Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride (21) drives to the basket against Phoenix Mercury guard Monique Akoa Makani (8) during the first half of a WNBA basketball game Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in Phoenix. Credit: Ross D. Franklin\/AP<\/p>\n