Minnesota Lynx fans eager for return to championship glory

By the timetable of Minnesota professional sports, it hasn’t been that long since the Minnesota Lynx brought home a league championship.

Still, fans who easily recall the team’s not-so-long-ago glory days are hungry for more as the Lynx head into the championship series Thursday. The team is hoping to capture its first WNBA title since 2017, when the franchise won its fourth.

“Oh yeah, we’re getting number five,” said Nate Pentz, an avid Lynx fan, as he, his wife and crowds of Lynx fans spilled out of Target Center after the team clinched its spot in the WNBA Finals Tuesday night.

Given the timing of the victory — coinciding with the WNBA’s surging popularity — fans said it feels like perfect timing for the Lynx to regain their championship-winning ways.

“There’s a lot more people watching, and you’re seeing that with TV numbers and attendance,” Pentz said. But for longtime fans, he added, it’s something deeper: “I think the exciting thing with the Lynx and this team is that the way they play together is just really great.”

The Lynx won four championships between 2011 and 2017, more than any other team that decade. Eric Coleman, who works as a security guard at Hiawatha Collegiate High School and was at Tuesday’s game with friends, said he thinks the current team is set up for the same kind of success.

“We have a young core, and they are really talented and skilled. ... I think the future is bright with this team,” Coleman said as he left the game.

A few people lingered on the downtown Minneapolis sidewalks to take in the scene after the game ended.

Josh Franklin, an attorney from St. Paul, stopped for a moment in the middle of First Avenue to admire the large “Go Lynx” text painted on the street. He thinks the timing of the team’s success is beneficial to the city, mentioning it would be the first professional championship in Minnesota since before the pandemic, and the unrest following the murder of George Floyd.

“Seeing this here ... in 2024 just really gives an entirely new feeling to the city, bringing back togetherness,” Franklin said.

Minneapolis City Council Member LaTrisha Vetaw attended Tuesday night’s game with fellow Council Member Andrea Jenkins. Vetaw believes there’s more confidence in the Lynx’s chances this year given their past success.

“We got hyped up about the Timberwolves, but there’s a little bit more certainty in this,” Vetaw said.

In interviews with fans leaving the arena and others who watched at the Minneapolis women’s sports bar A Bar of Their Own, most said they had started following the team closely in the past several years. The popularity of Indiana rookie guard Caitlin Clark has brought new attention to women’s basketball. But some have been watching for much longer.

“I always thought women’s sports were popular, I think everybody just kind of joined the bandwagon,” said Crystal Ruiz, a season-ticket holder.

It was standing room only at A Bar of Their Own. Strangers chatted as they watched and commented on the game. Ruiz fondly recalled meeting Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve at an event; Reeve let Ruiz try on the three championship rings she had at the time.

Eden Mahdavi, 24, of Minneapolis was there watching with friends. She said her family talked about the Lynx when she was in middle and high school as being the one professional Minnesota team that wins championships. She also felt personally compelled to watch Tuesday night’s game.

Two days before Game 5, Mahdavi saw Lynx starting guard Kayla McBride at the Minneapolis spa where Mahdavi works. A day later, Mahdavi said, she saw forward Alissa Pili in the grocery store.

“I was like, ‘The world is trying to tell me something, and it’s to watch this game,’” Mahdavi said.