Off of being well-represented at WNBA All-Star weekend in Chicago, the Minnesota Lynx opened their post-All-Star push with a victory over the Toronto Tempo at Target Center in Minneapolis on July 28.
From a basketball standpoint, it felt like many of the performances we’ve seen from Minnesota during its current eight-game winning streak — a high-powered offense, a defense leaving something (or a few things) to be desired, and even more truly dazzling play from the ever-outstanding Olivia Miles.
There have been so many moments this season along Target Center’s press row where the sportswriters in attendance just look at each other and laugh. None more so than the no-look-between-the-legs-blink-and-you-might-miss-this-shit drop pass to Kayla McBride for a three in transition on July 28.
Reflections on 2026 WNBA All-Star Weekend
There are so many things to highlight and talk about (most of them good!) coming out of All-Star Weekend, but the biggest thing for me is a feeling that could so easily be taken for granted. For 72 hours, the whole thing just felt … normal.
The scale of the event was a thousand times bigger than the last time it was in Chicago in 2022, and that didn’t even feel jarring because it’s the scale in which this event should have always been treated. Sure, there were a couple of breaks in the chain. The Chicago Sky still don’t have a practice facility, WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert is still trying to figure out how often players want to hear from her (we’re don’t know the exact number, Madame Commissioner, but we can confirm it’s not never), and I still don’t know where the media meal is/was supposed to be.
Those things don’t matter much when the weekend as a whole felt like a full-tilt celebration. The word “vibes” gets thrown around too often as a lazy catch-all term, but in this case, the vibes were immaculate. Jonquel Jones crossed up Barack Obama in skinny jeans. Keke Palmer met Miles and they both blushed. Jake from State Farm was everywhere. Why was Jake from State Farm everywhere? Ya know, what, never mind. I don’t even care.
It’s so easy to only focus on the negative aspects around the league when everyone is sequestered in their own Internet bubbles, but gather virtually the whole league in person for a weekend to turn up? Everyone realizes pretty quickly how special this moment is in the league’s history.
I have zero patience for or interest in the “how do we fix the ___ All-Star game?” question across sports. My belief is that All-Star games should be nothing other than celebrations. And this one — the first one since both sides agreed to the landmark Collective Bargaining Agreement in March — felt like a sincere celebration. It’s good to feel good, and this was a feel-good weekend in every sense of the word.
Natasha Howard
Miles is incredible and captured every set of eyes in Chicago. Courtney Williams is a freight train and consumed every drop of Crown Apple in Chicago that she had to switch to Hennessy. It’s not a surprise the scintillating Lynx backcourt mates got a ton of attention, but I don’t want to see Natasha Howard lost in the fray.
Howard’s season has truly been one of the great stories in the W this year, and from an attention standpoint, she somewhat felt like the forgotten All-Star this past weekend.
I wrote about how her renaissance season is just getting started for The IX Sports this week. She’s been vocal since training camp started that not only did her reunion with the Lynx feel like something that was years in the making, but that she heard any and all rumblings about her being in the winter of her career after last season in Indiana and used every bit of it as fuel for her fire.
“It feels good, you know, my work speaks for itself,” Howard said during WNBA All-Star Media Day on July 24. “Everybody’s seen it, everybody knows that, but I ain’t going to stop here. I’m not going to stop here right now. I’m going to still elevate, still try to get more accolades on my resume, I’m not done yet. Y’all are going to see this in the second half of the season as well, so I’m not done.”
The weekend prior, when the Portland Fire were in town and celebrations for Sylvia Fowles’ Hall of Fame inductions were in full swing, Fowles spoke about watching Howard, who used to be her back up, thriving this season at 34 years young.
“Tashi, that’s my baby,” Fowles said. “It’s always good to see players come back to Minnesota, especially when they’ve been here before. You get to see that transition over their career, how they started, what it was in between, and to bring it back home. For her to have the season that she’s having, I think [All-Star starter] is a no-brainer. I’m very happy for her and I’m happy that she’s looking like the old Tashi because we had a conversation about other people writing her off, how she wasn’t good enough or she’s on the down end of her career. To see her come back and flourish it’s always a great thing.”
Howard is a quieter personality compared to many of her Lynx teammates, but her killer instinct is just as fierce. Watching how this season continues to unfold for her is a top-shelf storyline for the rest of the season.
Streaking at Eight Straight
The Lynx have won eight in a row following the win over Toronto on July 28, and their defense in seven of them kept Cheryl Reeve up late into the night (not sure she sleeps anyways). Minnesota has not been perfect through this stretch, but I’m not really raising any alarm bells as of yet.
Sure, the current win streak holds only one win against a team currently in playoff position. That was win No. 2 of the streak against the New York Liberty on July 11. To feel like one truly has it all, a Lynx fan would like to see a bit wider margin of victory in some of those games and also much fewer points in the opposing team’s scoring department.
Those points are well-made, but the journey of a season will always feature some tough stretches. Feeling like an eight-game winning streak for the first place team in the league is one of those stretches that is the definition of “champagne problems.” To counter that, teams like the Los Angeles Sparks, Seattle Storm and Tempo aren’t good teams, they’re not too bad on the offensive side of the floor. Seattle in particular has shown itself to be a tough out recently and Flau’jae Johnson is looking like the absolute steal of the 2026 WNBA Draft (unless you want to consider Miles at No. 2 overall a steal, but I digress).
The schedule is the schedule and beating whoever is in front of you is a great way to position yourself for a deep run. There are issues, mostly on the defensive end of the floor, but expect much of those to be remedied by 1) Napheesa Collier getting more and more into the swing of things and getting more experience playing alongside first-time teammates in Miles, Howard, and Nia Coffey, etc., and 2) Dorka Juhász playing much better than she has so far. Neither of those things are guarantees, but I think No. 1 is a safe bet and No. 2 is a toss-up, but certainly not out of the question.
All Eyes on the Trade Deadline
I know there are rumblings throughout the league, but I do not expect the Lynx to be involved in a blockbuster and I don’t think there is anything at all to the notion that Collier is somehow on the trading block.
In the last month, Collier has indicated to the media how excited she is to get back with this team, how much she absolutely admired Miles, how she “loves the way we celebrate people here,” and that Lynx fans are “the best in the world.” Her one-year deal looms large over everything, but the Lynx have a championship they desperately want to win this year and a pretty damn good pitch to retain Collier during free agency.
I also am not expecting a move similar to the acquisition of DiJonai Carrington at last year’s deadline. There’s room to add a player with the Season Ending Injury Exception still available for Emma Čechová, but all the pieces like finding a willing trade partner and salaries that work will be difficult to fit together.
I imagine the Lynx will add another defense-forward piece, potentially move Eliška Hamzová back to a developmental spot, and potentially further additions around the margins. There’s wiggle room, and this deadline will be very interesting to watch across the league as the first of its kind under the new CBA.
I’m not banking on a big move coming the Lynx’s way, but maybe that’s just wishful thinking on my part with the hopes of getting sleep this weekend after last weekend’s party in Chicago. So on that note, look for the Lynx to acquire Kelsey Plum and announce a five-year extension for Collier at six in the morning on Saturday…