The Most Important Parts Of Whalen’s Journey Were Her Teammates

Over the course of her WNBA career, Lindsay Whalen forged many deep and lasting connections with her fans, her coaches, and many members of the Lynx organization. But with only the possible exception of coach Cheryl Reeve, Whalen’s deepest bonds were always with her teammates.

Whalen’s teammates are synonymous with her success. As a point guard and a leader, one of Whalen’s greatest strengths was always the ability to lift up those around her. Everyone had a role to play, and a special relationship with their point guard: Seimone Augustus, the longest-tenured Lynx player, Whalen’s fellow 2004 draftee Rebekkah Brunson, the superstar youngster Maya Moore, who the Lynx were “just bad enough” to draft in 2011, and Sylvia Fowles, who fit right in after joining the team midseason in 2015.

It’s the fellow members of the Lynx’s championship core that Whalen will miss the most in her retirement, and during her press conference, she made sure to give a special heartfelt thank you to the group of teammates that she’s accomplished so much with.

“Just playing with you guys… That’s absolutely what I’ll miss the most from playing,” said Whalen. “There’s nothing better than on the road, game planning, sticking together, working hard, then sitting in the locker room and talking about all the ups and downs and different things. Most nights we come out on top, most nights we’ve done that. I can’t thank you guys enough for bringing me on that, and we’ve done it together, that’s been the best part is doing it with you guys. As a player that’s why you want to play.”

The love is reciprocated. For almost a decade, Whalen has been the Lynx’s floor general on the court, and their emotional leader off of it.

“We’ve had such sweet memories together,” said Moore. “I’ve been blessed to be drafted to have her as the point guard at this point in her career. It’s really not fair to have so many great teammates, but especially Whay. She’s the heart and soul of this state and so much of the heart and soul of this team.”

With Whalen at the helm, the Lynx have won their fair share of games—including four WNBA championships. However, building the culture of the team was always the most important task. Whalen’s Lynx were obviously competitive and focused on winning, but they allowed themselves to have fun along the way and develop real relationships with one another.

“The championships and all that, I feel like that kind of comes when you genuinely care for each other, and that’s what I feel our group has done all these years,” said Whalen.

Whalen’s contributions towards that effort are hard to quantify. Her value, on the court and off of it, is not lost on Moore.

“We just move well together, she finds me, we can read each other really well, so I’ve been able to really enjoy playing and getting better knowing she’s going to find me on the late pass, or the way she communicates, or the way she’s grown as an emotional leader for our team, and watching her just will us in certain situations,” Moore said. “[She’s] just somebody who I can talk to, feel the ups and downs, someone that’s just available. I’ve always appreciated that about her.”