MINNEAPOLIS, Minnesota — There's no place like home and no one knows that better than Lindsay Whalen.
Whalen is back with the Lynx — this time as an assistant coach.
During a press conference at Target Center on Monday afternoon, Whalen said, "I'm just excited to get started and I guess that's the last time I'll say excited because I've said it 10 times now in that answer. Other than the fact that I'm thrilled to be here... and ecstatic really."
As a player, the Hutchinson native stayed home during college and led the Gophers to a Final Four — their only in program history. Her journey into the WNBA took her away from Minnesota to play for the Connecticut Sun.
But there's no place like home. Whalen became a legend with the Lynx with four WNBA championships between 2011 and 2017.
Her retirement was the end of an era.
"How lucky to be here at this time," said Lynx Head Coach Cheryl Reeve at the time of Whalen's retirement.
The Hall of Famer's Minnesota roots grew deeper when Whalen took over in 2018 as head coach for her alma mater at the University of Minnesota. But five years later, Whalen was forced to resign.
"I was ready to take a break. Yeah, I was ready to take a break," said Whalen during a one-on-one interview with KARE 11 sports director Reggie Wilson. "It was probably time for me... best for me, and my family, and those around me to kind of just take a little break and now it just felt like... when the opportunity presented itself talking with coach, it just felt right."
Coach Reeve said during the press conference, "Obviously, Whay is a legend for this franchise and what she brings to the table. What I'm really excited about for Lindsay is that timing is everything and our time to be together as a coach and be on the same staff is now."
Whalen added, "She's changed and I've changed... but I think that still you have that, you have that backbone. You have that relationship from when I played... you still have all those years of just how things work, and what worked... So you have that, but yet... there's new stuff, there's new technology, there's new perspectives."
Coach Reeve isn't the only familiar face for Whalen; there's the new associate head coach Eric Thibault whose dad coached Whalen in Connecticut. Whalen also joins her former teammate and Lynx assistant Rebekkah Brunson.
"When I was growing up, we didn't have the Minnesota Lynx here. There wasn't a WNBA. So now, like I said, the only thing I've ever worked in is basketball," Whalen said. "So I'm extremely lucky and I won't take that for granted and I'll work extremely hard to to put my best foot forward and to do my very best for the players and for coach."