June 5, 2025
Locked On Women’s Basketball: Minnesota Lynx could win WNBA championship this year
By The Next
Lucas Seehafer: 'Everybody on the team is basically willing to say, ... 'Napheesa is the sun that we revolve around'"
On today’s episode of Locked On Women’s Basketball, host Chelsea Leite and The Next’s Lucas Seehafer talk about the Minnesota Lynx and their odds of winning a WNBA championship in 2025. First, they talked about the state of the WNBA right now, and what has kept the Lynx in the upper ranks of the league:
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“I think as of right now, it’s clearly shown that [the WNBA] is led by a two-headed monster in the Minnesota Lynx and the New York Liberty, and that both of them have a have a great shot at winning the WNBA title. But I really do think that if they were to meet up in a series or in the championship again, that the Lynx would have as good a shot as any to take down the Liberty,” Seehafer said.
“The player base really hasn’t changed much since last year, but the addition of Karlie Samuelson, to come in and be that 3-point specialist who can slot into the starting lineup at a moment’s notice, I think is huge for this team. Additionally, Natisha Hiedeman is having a career year, in all honesty, and her ability to come off the bench and provide not even solid point guard minutes, but like starting-caliber point guard minutes once Courtney Williams exits, has just been huge. Like, I don’t think it can be overstated how her play has really elevated not only the Lynx’s bench, but like I said, she can plug and play with the starters too, and provide just a great benefit,” he continued.
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“Their depth is their strong suit,” Seehafer said. “I think if you look at the two rosters and you compare them side by side, the Liberty probably have more star power than the Lynx. But I think you could argue, you know, easily argue, that Lynx have the deepest and most talented one-through-eight in the league. If the team does have a weakness, I think it’s that they could use one more. If they could go one-through-nine of really solid contributors, it doesn’t have to be anything crazy, you know, if they can go get a player before the trade deadline who can give them anywhere from five to 15 minutes off the bench and … [be] a solid role player who can contribute in their own way, I think that would make the Lynx that much more deadly as a force.”
The two also discussed how having a go-to star in Napheesa Collier has been effective in directing the team’s vision and strategy:
“I think the other thing that really helps is that they have a clear number one in the locker room, and it’s Napheesa Collier, you know? And everybody on the team is basically willing to say, … ‘Napheesa is the sun that we revolve around. We’re going to go as far as she takes us, but we’re going to play our role to the best of our abilities.’ And it also helps that Collier is able to shoulder that burden, but also keep a bunch of praise on her teammates as well. You know, she’s always talking up her teammates after the game and that kind of stuff. So, you know, I hate the word humble, because I don’t think there is humble in professional sports. Like, I don’t think you can become a professional athlete if you’re humble. But Collier is both a supreme competitor, but also just a really good teammate. And that’s huge too, you want to have that kind of person to build your franchise around.”
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Tune in to hear more from Seehafer and Leite about the Minnesota Lynx, their early success and their upcoming challenges. Make sure to subscribe to the Locked On Women’s Basketball podcast to keep learning about women’s college basketball, the WNBA, basketball history and much more!
