MINNEAPOLIS — For the second season in a row, the Minnesota Lynx are hosting a celebratory weekend honoring franchise icons. Last season, the 25th season in franchise history, the Lynx celebrated their silver anniversary with festivities across three days and two games. They honored the players on the franchise’s All-25 team and raised Sylvia Fowles’ No. 34 jersey into the rafters.
“That’s pretty amazing,” Fowles announced to the crowd then as she gazed up to the Target Center rafters. She saw the banner bearing her name and number unveiled alongside those of Lindsay Whalen, Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson. “There’s no better feeling than to be up there with The Mayor [Whalen], The Sniper [Augustus] and The Machine [Brunson].”
She held for the guaranteed applause and laughter from the crowd and her former teammates. Then she looked over at Maya Moore seated among the Lynx legends on the court and added, “We got The Assassin coming soon.”
“Coming soon” turned out to be just over a year. On Saturday night at Target Center, Moore’s No. 23 will go in the rafters next to the rest of the famed starting five from Minnesota’s dynasty in the 2010s following the Lynx’s game against the Indiana Fever.
Friday night, the first leg of this back-to-back celebration, featured a ceremony honoring Augustus and Taj McWilliams-Franklin for their inductions into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Fittingly for a franchise that takes honoring its legends seriously, the magnitude of the back-to-back, multiday celebration was not lost on Lynx players and leadership.
“The older I get, the more I recognize things,” Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve told reporters before Friday’s game against the Las Vegas Aces. “Sometimes when you’re in it, you’re just onto the next thing or you don’t take time. I’m getting to the age and my experiences are enough now that I recognize how special these things are.
“I hope it’s really special for the fans. The acknowledgment of these three tonight, and then obviously sort of the final jersey of that group going up, the magnitude of it, it’s not lost on me. I’m just excited that we get the chance to be together again and reminisce and, of course, have our fans be able to know for sure that Maya’s not coming back [laughter].”
While playing at Notre Dame in nearby South Bend, Indiana, current Lynx co-captain Kayla McBride was present for one of the most iconic moments in Moore’s career when she hit the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in Game 3 of the 2015 WNBA Finals.
“Right behind the bench, the Indy bench,” McBride told reporters after practice on Aug. 12. “Yeah, I remember that shot. Everything went quiet. And to see it live, amazing.”
McBride also spoke about playing against Moore when McBride got to the WNBA.
“My ‘welcome to the WNBA’ moment was Maya,” McBride said. “Just guarding her. Her aura in general. I was [playing] in San Antonio, and we always seemed to be playing up here on my birthday. It’s her aura and what she represented to us as guards, as shooting guards. Her ability to score at all three levels at a crazy rate. It was just an aura.
“I’m excited I’ll be able to be here. That’s one of the reasons I wanted to come here, because of all those great players when I was coming up.”
“It’s huge,” guard Courtney Williams told reporters about the weekend’s events after shootaround on Friday. “Obviously, we’re not here if not for them. They did some amazing things. So definitely blessed just to be a part of it and be here.”
It’s not only huge for the players wearing the same jersey Moore wore for eight magical seasons in Minnesota. Minnesota opponents who have idolized Moore for years have expressed appreciation for the opportunity to play in the game that honors her. That includes a certain rookie from West Des Moines, Iowa.
“I was super excited when I saw that was the game they were going to do it at,” Indiana rookie and childhood Lynx fan Caitlin Clark said before her first game at Target Center on July 14. “She deserves it. I know the fans will be absolutely incredible. If you would have told me that as a young kid, that I would be playing in the game that her jersey gets retired at, it’s very full circle to me.
“She was my favorite player ever growing up. She’s who I loved watching, and I still think of her as like my LeBron James. To just be in the building that night and say I got to play in that game is super cool.”
It doesn’t hurt that the Lynx are playing some pretty fantastic basketball heading into Saturday. They have won five straight games and four since the Olympic break ended, and the last three featured some of the most high-powered offense we’ve seen this season. That run has put the Lynx just a half game back of the Connecticut Sun for the No. 2 spot in the WNBA standings.
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Friday’s victory included a legendary performance fit for an occasion honoring Lynx legends. In an 87-74 victory against the defending champion Aces, Napheesa Collier grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds — enough to outrebound the entire Aces team by herself — to go with 27 points, five assists and two steals on 73.3% shooting from the field.
She joins Moore as the only players in Lynx history to post a stat line of at least 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and two steals, per Lynx PR.
“When we’re moving like that, it’s just the most fun basketball that I’ve played,” Collier said of the team’s performance as of late. “It’s been amazing to be part of this, and I feel like we’re hitting our peak at just the right time.”
Night 1 of the doubleheader ended with Minnesota’s current franchise player speaking about a win for the team. It was perfect bookend to a night that began with Moore speaking to the Lynx faithful during the pregame ceremony honoring Minnesota’s most recent class of Hall of Famers.
“Lynx family! Man, it feels good to be back,” Moore said. “As the baby of ‘The Rafter Crew,’ I’m just humbled again to have the privilege … of being drafted in 2011. I had no control over that. I just had the blessing of being able to come to a team with Mama Taj and Seimone and Lindsay and Rebekkah, and Syl later on.
“So let’s just soak in this gratitude and enjoy ourselves in this 48 hours. Love you guys!”
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