Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve gets honest on WNBA coach firings after postseason struggles

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve is one of the most successful head tacticians in WNBA history. In 15 seasons as the coach of the Lynx, Reeve has won four WNBA championships and led her team to 13 playoff appearances.

However, not all coaches can produce this level of success, as evidenced by the four WNBA coaches who have already been let go this offseason. On Friday afternoon, ahead of Minnesota's Game 4 Finals matchup against the New York Liberty, Cheryl Reeve spoke on the firings of Tanisha Wright, Curt Miller, Teresa Weatherspoon and Latricia Trammell, who was fired on Friday afternoon by the Dallas Wings.

"Anytime a coach gets fired, any other coach feels that, and you feel for the person that's going through that. All these coaches can coach. It's not a sign that they're not good enough. It's a sign of, maybe, the franchise. Maybe what you're asking is, 'Are we in unprecedented times?'"

Trammell is the fourth head coach to be let go since the WNBA regular season concluded last month. In her remarks, Reeve pondered whether teams are "maybe looking for something different."

Latricia Trammell joined Weatherspoon (Chicago Sky), Miller (LA Sparks) and Wright (Atlanta Dream), all of whom were let go within the past month.

A common thread among these coaches is that all were fired within three seasons of their hiring. The Dallas Wings are now on the hunt for their sixth coach in the last decade.

Cheryl Reeve is the longest-tenured head coach in the WNBA

While the rest of the WNBA continues to search far and wide for the right coach, the Minnesota Lynx have found stability and success with Cheryl Reeve. Reeve holds the record as the longest-tenured head coach in the WNBA, outpacing the next closest by 11 years. The second-longest tenure in the WNBA is the Seattle Storm's Noelle Quinn, who has served for four seasons.

Cheryl Reeve has won 330 games in her head coaching career, the second-highest mark in WNBA history. Teams around the WNBA may start to look at Minnesota as the prime example of allowing a coach time to grow and develop, much like a player would.

After starting her tenure with a 13-21 record in her first season as head coach of the Lynx, Minnesota chose to stand by Cheryl Reeve, enabling her to cultivate her culture and implement her philosophies, ultimately making her one of the most successful coaches in WNBA history.