The Minnesota Lynx have had seasons like this before—dominant regular seasons, top-seeded playoff runs, MVP chatter. But 2025 feels different. It feels like the past and future of the franchise are colliding in real time.

On one hand, you had Sylvia Fowles and Maya Moore—the twin cornerstones of a dynasty—standing on stage in Springfield this summer, draped in Hall of Fame orange. Moore used her induction speech to turn a spotlight away from herself: “Don’t miss out on learning from someone more experienced than you, the joy of helping someone else get better,” she said. “Seek that culture out. Be a part of that culture.” That’s Maya. Always passing forward the play.

Then there’s Napheesa Collier, who just turned in one of the most absurd offensive seasons in league history: 50/40/90 shooting splits on high usage, only the second player ever to do it (the other being Elena Delle Donne). Collier has become the metronome of the Lynx—methodical, efficient, inevitable. Every time defenses shade hard to her right hand, she counters with a pull-up. Switch a guard onto her, and she buries them inside. Leave her open on the arc? Forget it.

“I just wanted to put together the most complete season of my career,” Collier said after clinching the No. 1 seed. “But honestly, I’m just trying to win. The rest will take care of itself.”

The “rest” includes MVP. It’s down to Collier and A’ja Wilson, who somehow made Las Vegas feel like the league’s Death Star again. If Collier wins, it won’t just be a personal coronation—it’ll be another sign that the Lynx are morphing back into the WNBA’s measuring stick.

And then there’s Alanna Smith, who went from “solid rotation player” to Defensive Player of the Year—well, Co-DPOY, sharing the award with Wilson. Smith started 42 games, played 26.6 minutes per night, and became the backbone of Minnesota’s defense, which finished first in the league with a 97.5 defensive rating.

Smith doesn’t chase blocks so much as she erases angles. Drivers think they’ve got a lane, and then—thwack—Smith is there, stretching a hand straight into the path. She’s not flashy, but she’s omnipresent. She racked up 135 combined steals and blocks, third in total blocks, top 10 in steals.

“This is why I came here,” Smith said after the award was announced. “To be part of something bigger. Phee [Collier] runs the offense, and my job is to make sure we set a tone on the other end. To get this recognition is huge, but it’s really a team thing.”

Of course, not every trophy came to Minneapolis. The Lynx would have loved to add a Coach of the Year for Cheryl Reeve after a wire-to-wire, best-record-by-a-mile season. Instead, voters handed it to Natalie Nakase, who somehow turned an expansion roster into a playoff team in year one. (Fittingly, Nakase’s group tested the Lynx in Round 1 before bowing out.)

But awards or no awards, the vibe around this team is unmistakable: the Lynx aren’t just good, they’re sustainable-good. They defend like crazy, they play through their star but never around her, and they have depth. The Collier–Smith axis gives them an identity. Add in veterans who buy into roles, and you get a group that plays with both confidence and patience—two qualities that have defined every great Lynx team.

The Hall of Fame weekend was a reminder of where the Lynx have been. This season is a signal of where they’re going. Minnesota is no longer chasing greatness—they’re back to setting the standard. And if Napheesa Collier does walk away with MVP on Sunday, it will only cement what’s already clear: the Lynx are having one of the greatest seasons in franchise history, and they might just be building the next great WNBA dynasty—one they hope ends with the commissioner handing them the WNBA trophy while wearing a Prince-inspired “Purple Reign” dress.

For now, the work continues. The Lynx tip off the second round of the playoffs against a familiar foe in the Phoenix Mercury, a team they swept in three regular-season matchups and eliminated last postseason. History is on their side, but the mission is simple: beat Phoenix once more, and keep the march toward history alive.