MINNEAPOLIS — Momentous celebrations at the Target Center are fairly commonplace in the summer months. Last season, Lynx fans welcomed back several star players from the past to celebrate Maya Moore’s No. 23 being lifted into the rafters. The season before that, they dedicated games to do the same for Sylvia Fowles’ No. 34 and to honor the franchises’ All-25 Team in June. Lastly, they wrapped it up by honoring Lindsay Whalen’s induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame in August, an event at which Whalen remarked “it’s been two months since I was last honored.”
This weekend, the Minnesota Lynx host the Los Angeles Sparks in the penultimate game of Commissioner’s Cup play. But they’ll also host several Lynx legends to celebrate the ‘Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame’ honors for the player who has scored more points and played more minutes than any other player in the history of the franchise, Seimone Augustus.
“I’m always excited to come back to the Target Center,” Augustus said in an interview with The Next. “It’s definitely a time to reunite with my fellow teammates. It’s also an opportunity for us to get to see the current team and just be around them and immerse ourselves in what they have going on, as well as enjoying the fans and enjoying this great environment that has been created over the last 10-15 years that we’ve been doing it. It will be great to see some familiar faces.”
As part of the pregame festivities against the Sparks, Augustus’ No. 33 banner will be updated to reflect her induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. Augustus will share a few words with the crowd after she’s introduced by fellow Lynx legend Katie Smith. And fans in attendance will receive a commemorative Seimone Augustus Hall of Fame banner.
“I keep up with every [WNBA] game, especially the Lynx games,” Augustus told the media after Lynx practice on Friday. “I was kind of pissed the other night that all the games came on at the same time, but obviously the Lynx always have my heart and it’s good to see the fans are still here. It’s still packed. It’s still loud. For me, I’m always thankful for the support that I’ve had from the Lynx fans, as well as the love. It feels good every time you come back here. People see you, they bring up a memory, you’re like ‘yeah I remember that,’ and you kind of share those moments, so it always feels good to be back in the Twin Cities.”
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Of Minnesota’s dynastic core through the 2010s, Augustus was the first to arrive when the Lynx made her the No. 1 overall selection in the 2006 WNBA Draft. Through 14 seasons, 370 games, six all-star nods, and four championships, Augustus became a revered figure on the court in Minnesota. However, her impact off the court and in the community in the Twin Cities through all those years is where she became truly beloved by Lynx fans. Augustus was an outspoken supporter of marriage equality in Minnesota and was also honored as a grand marshal of the Twin Cities Pride Parade in 2012.
Her presence in Minneapolis during this weekend of Pride month will not only feature a basketball game, but also a visit to the Pride Cultural Arts Center and time with LGBTQ youth in the Twin Cities with the QUEERSPACE Collective and Transforming Families.
“I’ve always done things with the LGBTQ community, being in the [Pride] Parade, being around, whenever we didn’t have a game I’m at the festivities, just being a voice,” Augustus told The Next. “Throughout my time with the Lynx I grew courageous enough to be able to express myself, and that helped move the needle forward when people talk about marriage equality. Minnesota for me is kind of like the foundation of me even finding my identity as a person. To be able to come back during Pride month and also be able to share some words and hopefully be able to provide some comfort for some high school kids that are going through a transitional period in their lives, it’s always great to be able to have those monumental moments.”
On the court, Augustus’ influence can still be felt today through the promising rookie she shared the locker room with during her final season as a Lynx.
“It means a lot,” that former rookie Napheesa Collier told media members after practice when asked what it meant to have not only Augustus, but the likes of Smith, Taj McWilliams-Franklin, Devereaux Peters, and Tamika Williams at practice. “I think everyone came with their A-game for sure. You don’t want to have a bad practice in front of the vets and the people who built this organization. It’s always really cool to see the people that came before you, the Hall of Famers, everything that they accomplished is what we’re on the road to trying to do, so it’s amazing to have them here.”
Collier’s ascension from talented rookie, to the league’s Rookie of the Year, to WNBA super stardom is a similar trajectory to the career of Augustus. Having Augustus and Fowles to lean on in her first year as a professional basketball player is something Collier did not take for granted.
“To have someone like Seimone be your vet, to have her be so welcoming too,” Collier recalled. “You hear stories where that doesn’t always happen, so I was really lucky with my vets. To have ‘Mone and her competitiveness, she’s so calm in her exterior in that way, but the way that she turns it on … seeing that come out of her and teach that to me in my rookie year was an amazing experience.”
Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve has the task of making sure a celebratory occasion doesn’t interfere with the focus on the task at hand. It’s something she’s had a lot of practice with as the Lynx’s famed starting five transitioned from players on the court, to numbers in the rafters, and even to coaches on the sidelines. This all has provided plenty of occasions for the current Lynx to turn pomp and circumstance into on-court energy.
“The energy that you get from this is pretty incredible,” Reeve said after practice. “Just seeing them and how happy they are and proud they are of being back here. When they were doing this, when they were in the practices, and they were going through the drills, I, you know being older, could see a time [like this], but at that time they couldn’t see that … I think just the energy, and for our current players to see it, feel it, touch it, you know, I think all that’s incredible. I’m really proud of our franchise.”
Saturday’s game is another day at the office for the Lynx’s work towards a championship. When the competition tips off, Reeve’s team will be hard at work to make up for their first loss of the season.
“I do it far better now,” Reeve said about appreciating these special kinds of game days. “When you’re in your 50s and you know you’re closer to the end than you are the beginning, you start to do that a little bit more, especially for that group. So taking time out, no matter how short it might be, obviously Seimone’s jersey is in the rafters, but just to have her soak up the adulation that people feel for her. Just how proud that we were able to do this together, you know I had a great seat for all of it, and to be a part of it just makes you super proud.”
Pride is a paramount characteristic within Lynx basketball. It’s a characteristic that helped a group of players build the organization to unforeseen heights and it’s that same characteristic that keeps bringing that group of players back under the roof where it all took place.
“Being on the other side now and hearing so many people, especially legendary players, looking to get their flowers, it feels good to be part of an organization who literally takes pride in that,” Augustus said. “If you’ve been here, if you’ve helped build the foundation, they’re going to make sure that they always celebrate you, always talk about that history, and use that history to push the needle forward for the next generation of players. It’s kind of like we set the foundation of who the Lynx are, what they’re going to be, and how we’re going to move forward, and it’s always good to be celebrated every time it comes around. And times like this, where you see the Lynx are now back and you’re looking at the way that they’re playing, what they’re producing on the floor, you can only think about the glory days of what we started years ago.”
