Rebekkah Brunson will join Lynx coaching staff

After a one-season absence, Rebekkah Brunson is returning to the Lynx — this time as an assistant coach.

Brunson, the WNBA's all-time leading rebounder and the only player who has enough WNBA championship rings for four fingers and a thumb, is expected to be named to the Lynx coaching staff Tuesday, according to a league source.

Brunson will join the recently hired Katie Smith and Plenette Pierson on general manager and head coach Cheryl Reeve's all-female coaching staff. That's a stated goal for Reeve, who is committed to giving women coaching opportunities in the league.

For Brunson, 38, it's a return to the team she helped lead to WNBA titles in 2011, '13, '15 and '17. A 6-2 power forward, she won her first title with the Sacramento Monarchs in 2005. In her 15 years in the WNBA, Brunson was named a first- or second-team all-defensive player seven times and was a five-time All-Star.

She averaged 9.2 points and 7.4 rebounds, totaling 3,356 rebounds. That means she likely will be on the Lynx bench when former teammate Sylvia Fowles breaks that record; the Lynx center enters the season only 64 rebounds shy of tying Brunson.

Rebekkah Brunson's career statistics

Her final game for the Lynx came on Aug. 5, 2018, when she took an elbow to the face from Atlanta's Tifany Hayes, breaking her nose. Brunson was diagnosed with a concussion the next day and missed the rest of the season.

While she never officially announced her retirement, she never played again. She and wife Bobbi Jo Lamar Brunson have a son, Graham, and have launched a food truck/catering service. Brunson also has been an analyst on Timberwolves games for Fox Sports North, a position she will be able to keep while coaching.