MINNEAPOLIS — When Lindsay Whalen retires from the WNBA at the end of this season, the gritty Minnesota Lynx point guard won’t have trouble figuring out what to do next.
She’s already started the next stage, after all, as the head coach at her alma mater.
Even before she was hired in the spring to take over the program she initially elevated at Minnesota, Whalen was already considering ending her playing career following a fourth championship with the Lynx. She agreed to return for one more year with her friends on the league’s longest-lasting dynasty, one more summer of inspiring all those basketball-loving girls around the state and beyond.
“There were different times this offseason when I kind of felt like, ‘What can I give? How much more can I give?’” Whalen said, adding: “Coach reminded me of all the amazing times you have with your teammates.”
Whalen made her impending retirement official on Monday at a packed news conference. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve shed a few tears, but Whalen kept the mood light with a steady stream of her trademark dry-witted quips. In thanking her husband, Ben Greve, Whalen quickly noted his presence on the golf course instead of attending the event at the team’s practice facility. Greve is playing in the U.S. Amateur tournament in Pebble Beach, California. Whalen even picked the Aug. 13 date for the news conference to match her jersey number.
Growing up in Hutchinson, a small town about 60 miles west of Minneapolis, Whalen became a wizard on the hardwood with a quick step to the basket, a smooth jump shot and a steely gaze that always meant business on the court. She flourished in college, leading the Gophers to their only NCAA Final Four appearance in 2004, before being drafted by the Connecticut Sun.
“You never think it’s going to turn into this,” Whalen said, “but if you work hard enough and you’re around the right people it can.”