New Lynx assistants Eric Thibault and Lindsay Whalen should provide seamless transition

Of course the ties have bound them through the years.

But familiarity wasn’t the reason Eric Thibault is the Lynx’s new associate head coach, or why Lindsay Whalen is a newly-hired assistant.

Cheryl Reeve, the Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations, saw a chance to enhance her staff. So when Thibault was available after being let go as head coach in Washington, and when Whalen was ready to return to basketball, the fit was obvious.

“It was a great opportunity,” Reeve said at a news conference to introduce Thibault and Whalen on Monday at Target Center. “With Eric’s availability, I thought it was a seamless transition in terms of what Eric brings to the table in terms of basketball knowledge. Eric, standalone, was appealing to us.”

As for Whalen? Reeve joked how point guard Courtney Williams — in attendance, along with All-Star Kayla McBride — stopped listening to her towards the end of last year, and how the presence of a Hall of Fame point guard might help.

But there are ties that should make this a smooth transition.

Whalen started her WNBA career in Connecticut, coached by Mike Thibault, Eric’s dad. There was one year, post-surgery, where Whalen basically spent an offseason in the Thibault home, getting to know Eric, whose high school games she attended. Mike’s sister, Carly Thibault-DuDonis, was part of Whalen’s first staff at the University of Minnesota.

Mike Thibault and Reeve coached together at the Olympics. The Lynx and Washington regularly scrimmaged and played each other in the preseason. Eric Thibault spent 12 years with the Mystics organization, the last two as head coach. He was part of Washington’s two appearance in the WNBA Finals and the title-winning team in 2019.

His teams and the Lynx play a similar style. Indeed, it was the cohesive nature of the 2024 Lynx — who made it to Game 5 of the WNBA Finals before falling to the New York Liberty — that made coming to Minneapolis so appealing.

“What I’m most excited about is joining a group that has great team culture, a competitive culture,’ Thibault said. “I’m really aligned with what this Lynx organization stands for. Our values are similar about the [game] and how you should play. I’m going to hopefully do what I can do to add a piece to the puzzle and get everybody where we want to go.”

So Reeve added two people with head coaching experience. Both will jump into their duties, which will include scouting during the college season. Thibault’s WNBA head coaching experience was important to Reeve, who was replacing Katie Smith, who left after the season to join the staff at Ohio State, her alma matter.

Some years ago Reeve, hoping to promote the ascent of women in the coaching ranks, made a move to have all-female coaching staffs. But Thibault’s credentials were undeniable.

“I’m still committed to women and women of color being on staff,” Reeve said. “That’s a priority that hasn’t changed. This opportunity presented itself, and I thought that’s what was best for the players and that’s the route we chose.”

With Whalen, Reeve said her title-winning experience will carry significant gravitas with the team Whalen came to love as a spectator last season.

“We have a very ‘hooper’ locker room,’’ McBride said. “We love the game. So to have somebody else in the room that appreciates the game and knows what we go through on a daily basis? And with Eric, who’s been in the league so long? It’s exciting.”

The Lynx will open the WNBA regular season on May 16 at Dallas and end it Sept. 11 with a home game against expansion Golden State.

Dallas has the No. 1 pick in the draft and is expected to take Minnesota native Paige Bueckers, a senior at UConn. The Wings will be at Target Center on May 21 and Sept. 21.

The league released its schedule Monday. Because there is no Olympic break, as there was this year, the season ends three weeks earlier.

The Lynx have one home game against Caitlin Clark and Indiana, on Aug. 24. They have four games scheduled against the New York Liberty, who beat them for the league title, in a three-week stretch of late July and August.

May 16 at Dallas, 6:30 p.m.

May 18 at Los Angeles, 5 p.m.

May 21 Dallas, 7 p.m.

May 23 Connecticut, 6:30 p.m.

May 27 Seattle, 7 p.m.

May 30 at Phoenix, 9 p.m.

June 1 at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.

June 3 Phoenix, 7 p.m.

June 8 at Dallas, 3 p.m.

June 11 at Seattle, 9 p.m.

June 14 Los Angeles, noon

June 17 Las Vegas, 7 p.m.

June 21 Los Angeles, 7 p.m.

June 24 at Washington, 7 p.m.

June 27 at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

June 29 Connecticut, 6 p.m.

July 3 Washington, 7 p.m.

July 5 Golden State, 7 p.m.

July 6 Chicago, 6 p.m.

July 9 at Phoenix, 2:30 p.m.

July 10 at Los Angeles, 2 p.m.

July 12 at Chicago, noon

July 14 at Chicago, 7 p.m.

July 16 Phoenix, noon

July 22 Chicago, 7 p.m.

July 25 Las Vegas, 6:30 p.m.

July 27 Atlanta, 6 p.m.

July 30 New York, 7 p.m.

Aug. 2 at Las Vegas, 2 p.m.

Aug. 5 at Seattle, 9 p.m.

Aug. 8 Washington, 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 10 at New York, 2 p.m.

Aug. 16 New York, TBD

Aug. 19 at New York, 6 p.m.

Aug. 21 at Atlanta, 6:30 p.m.

Aug. 22 at Indiana, 6 p.m.

Aug. 24 Indiana, 6 p.m.

Aug. 28 Seattle, 7 p.m.

Aug. 30 at Connecticut, 6 p.m.

Sept. 1 Dallas, 7 p.m.

Sept. 4 at Las Vegas, 9 p.m.

Sept. 6 at Golden State, 7:30 p.m.

Sept. 9 at Indiana, 6:30 p.m.

Sept. 11 Golden State, 7 p.m.