MINNEAPOLIS — Natisha Hiedeman has not lacked for signature moments since she joined the Minnesota Lynx in 2024. The diminutive guard out of Marquette University who has found a home in Minneapolis by way of Connecticut, has endeared herself to teammates and fans alike with her clever passes, pension for hitting big shots, and dynamic sound bites.
Hiedeman, affectionately known by coaches and teammates as ‘T,’ has been an essential part of Minnesota’s 8-0 start on the court. Her statistical impact is up across the board compared to last season, and she’s shooting nearly 60% from the floor since the second game of the season. However, the Natisha Hiedeman experience can be summed up perfectly in a preseason moment that took place off the court and showed her trademark levity, vulnerability and unapologetic authenticity.
On media day, hours after the Lynx completed just their third practice of training camp, the team marched through the press conference room one at a time to take their turn sharing their outlook for the season and the always fun minutiae of reliving what it’s like to come oh-so-close to winning a championship for the nth time. Hiedeman arrived to the room earlier than her appointed time, but was happy to take a seat, and eventually take the mic during Bridget Carleton’s time on the podium.
“Hi Bridget, Natisha Hiedeman with the Minnesota Lynx,” Hiedeman said, displaying the potential for a promising media career after basketball whenever that day comes. “What are you most looking forward to this season besides potentially winning a championship? What are you most excited for and looking forward to?”
Carleton answered, unsurprisingly, “playing with Natisha Hiedeman.”
Hiedeman bringing the whole room to laughter is not a rare occurrence during Minnesota Lynx press conferences. Though it doesn’t come at the expense of that thoughtful vulnerability, which she displayed while trying to sum up those first few weeks after the 2024 Finals concluded in heartbreaking fashion.
“It’s definitely a revenge tour. I ain’t gonna lie, that shit hurt, like for real,” Hiedeman said. “I was sick for like three weeks after, like sick. I was real life depressed or something. It was weird. So just remembering that feeling that I had, that we all had, and not wanting to feel that again.”
For each member of the Lynx organization, the way the 2024 championship chase ended was as painful of a lesson as one could get. But Hiedeman is making sure the opportunity for growth that comes from such a lesson isn’t going to go to waste.
“I just feel like I’m kind of at that point in my career where I’m taking a big step,” Hiedeman said. “Not just physically, but mentally. My mom always told me this, ‘as you get older, you get wiser,’ and I feel like I’m real wise right now. I think that’s going to carry over to basketball, but just having that confidence. Just being confident, knowing who I am as a player, not holding back, and shine away.”
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Hiedeman’s shine on the court wasn’t always on full brightness during the 2024 campaign. There were moments of brilliance, like a 17-point explosion on a tweaked ankle in a win against Dallas, but her role restricted her to the fewest amount of minutes per game since her rookie season in 2019.
“T, in the offseason I think kind of flipped the switch of wanting to have a great season,” Lynx head coach and President of Basketball Operations Cheryl Reeve said. “There’s all kinds of motivation around it for her wanting to be great for our team and having a bigger role. I think maybe there were times last year that maybe she wanted that, but didn’t quite know how to get that done. So, my connection with her growing and me being a little more forgiving through some of the ups and downs allows her to be more confident.”
Reeve cited a conversation between the two of them in February of this year, when Hiedeman was a free agent, that paved the way for a return to Minnesota and the excellence that’s been on display thus far.
“I think collectively the two of us have gotten to a good space and she’s been obviously crucial,” Reeve added. “It’s nice to have, when your starting point guard is off the floor that when the next one comes on is perhaps even more productive at times.”
Asked on just how fun is it to coach a player and person like Hiedeman:
“It’s really fun,” Reeve said. “Each day she shows up the same. There’s something to be said for a level of consistency in your personality. She’s warm, she’s funny, people love being around her. I didn’t know what we were getting in that way, because the times I spent with her in recruiting her, when she was playing in Israel, we were in Israel and sat with her and she was pretty quiet. I didn’t really have a great idea of what exactly we were getting, her locker room presence, how funny she is, she brings levity to a lot of situations and obviously her and Courtney together are really funny. Or at least they think they are [laughter].”
Hiedeman didn’t sign on the dotted line immediately after that conversation, but as her first true free agent experience unfolded, it soon became clear that all roads led back to Minnesota.
“She makes it seem like it was such a difficult thing to get me back,” Hiedeman said with a laugh. “It really wasn’t. I knew where I wanted to be, but that was my first time being a free agent, so I just wanted to experience that and see what that entailed.”
Hiedeman was on the floor for over 20 minutes in four of the eight games Minnesota has played this year. She only saw that much playing time on six occasions through all of last season. Coaches and players on the Lynx have not been shy about admitting there have been stretches of basketball that don’t meet their championship standard so far in 2025. During many of those challenges the Lynx have faced on the court this year (see their 15-point comeback against the Connecticut Sun), it’s been Hiedeman who has emphatically answered the call.
“This is our second year now together, me and Cheryl have a great relationship off the court and I think that carries onto the court,” Hiedeman said after scoring 18 points in an 88-65 win against Phoenix at Target Center. “I think over time I’ve just built trust with her and I think that’s a big thing she wants. So she’s the coach, whatever she decides I just roll with it, and whatever the team needs.”
“T is also hooping right now,” Alanna Smith added while sitting beside Hiedeman at the podium.
Smith didn’t mince words when asked if this was the best stretch she’s seen of her teammate to date as a follow up.
“I’ve had full confidence in T from the moment our team has been together since last season,” Smith said. “I think that’s kind of what’s special about us is that we have confidence in every single player. I think T has done a really good job of building on her strengths and continuing to grow. I’m really proud of her leaps and bounds she’s made this season and she’s making us so much better. I’ve said this about [Jessica Shepard] and I’m saying it about T too, having someone like T, who is a starting caliber player come off the bench, it’s scary for other teams and we’re lucky we’ve got her.”
Much like her backcourt mate and best friend Courtney Williams said earlier this season in trusting that “the work gonna show,” Hiedeman credits taking a step back from the noise and trusting in what’s gotten her to this point as a big part of her stellar play so far in 2025.
“We deal with a lot as athletes,” Hiedeman told The Next. “Just with social media and things like that, somebody always got something to say, so just remembering why you’re here, what got you here, and believing in the work. I feel like for me, I kind of took a little step back from reading into things so much, but just been trusting the work that I’ve put in.”
The work she’s put in has vaulted her from the depths of that post-Finals despair, to the top of her game and building a strong candidacy for Sixth Player of the Year.
“I think I’m more locked in than ever right now,” Hiedeman said. “After we lost the championship, and then just playing in China and Unrivaled, I just had to really dive into my purpose. I think basketball is my purpose and always has been my purpose. I’m not going to say I fell out of love with basketball, but really loving the game and understanding that you can’t play this game forever. So I’m just really diving into it and appreciating it.”
