It remains to be seen whether the 2025 Commissioner’s Cup between the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx will become a Finals preview.
What’s clear is that the lead offensive weapons will be battling again soon. The Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Lynx’s Napheesa Collier head into the fifth annual Cup final as All-Star captains and will draft their teams in the coming week.
That will be an exhibition, a weekend to let loose and enjoy a brief break in the marathon that is the WNBA regular season. This, on Tuesday night, is business, an opportunity to bank cash and make a statement. The Lynx (14-2) are in search of re-establishing their dominance on the national stage, while the Fever (8-8) are searching for themselves as they hover around .500, navigating turbulent waters in every direction.
“It’s a really great opportunity for us to go in there and see what we’re made of [and] to have a little pressure,” Clark told reporters on Sunday. “Also to just go out there and play our game. You don’t have to play any different than we have been playing.”
The Minnesota Lynx are looking to repeat as Commissioner’s Cup champions. (Photo by Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
Indiana entered the season with the most promise of any team not named New York or Minnesota. At the Fever’s best, they’re worthy of the label. But they haven’t been their best enough.
Clark missed seven games and is day-to-day with a groin injury heading into the Cup championship. She’s mired in a shooting slump, unable to hit from deep and often barely finding room to attempt it as teams pick her up the length of the court with blitzes. She’s hitting 29.5% of her 3-point attempts, a double-take number in the wrong way.
Despite the low efficiency, her budding chemistry with Aliyah Boston is near full form, and they’re one of the most dangerous duos in the league. The third-year center is averaging a career-best 15.7 points per game, hitting a higher efficiency of shots than all but two players (59.7%).
Kelsey Mitchell, far too used to carrying the offensive burden in Indiana, is taking over, averaging 26 points over the last three games. Nearly half are on a scorching 59.1% mark from 3-point range.
None of that fully staved off fourth-quarter collapses last week to Golden State and Las Vegas. Through the league’s first quarter, those two are the Fever’s competition for the playoffs, rather than the league’s very best.
“It’s a gut check to see where we are and what we need and how we need to be to make a playoff run,” Mitchell said. “For us, it’s about taking this opportunity and not just shirking it off and just kind of be prepared for the moment.”
It is the first title-winning environment this young group has been in together, and the first Cup finals berth for the franchise. That always holds special meaning, head coach Stephanie White said.
Once again, the Fever’s lack of experience is stark compared to their opponents. The Lynx are out for history. No team has won back-to-back Cup championships after the Aces and Liberty each lost in their second year in the Cup finals.
“Whatever the name of the championship [is] … you want the hardware,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said after a 102-63 rout of the Connecticut Sun on Sunday. “And this will be a feather in the cap for this group.”
Minnesota took down New York a year ago to make a definitive statement that the Lynx were Finals contenders. They went on to meet the Liberty in a thrilling five-game series that went down to the final minutes. The two appeared on a collision course for October, though it may have taken a hit — New York (11-5) is fading in the standings while center Jonquel Jones is out with an ankle injury.
All five Minnesota starters are back to push the Lynx better on both ends. Their 106.6 offense rating is five points better than last year, while their defensive rating is one point lower and still best in the league. Collier, who missed three games with a back injury, is the leading MVP candidate, boasting top-five averages in points (24.4, leading the league), rebounds (8.5), steals (1.8) and blocks (1.5) while flirting with a 50/40/90 shooting season.
The Lynx will host this year, and Collier expects the atmosphere to be similar to a playoff game. For the players, it’s more meaningful in at least one way.
“They’ve talked about, they’re going to make more money in a Commissioner’s Cup game than they will in a deep playoff run,” Reeve said. “So this is really meaningful to them, especially some of our younger players. And the veterans are very aware of the meaning of that.”
The winning team pockets $500,000, more than a single player’s supermax salary and one-third of a team’s hard salary cap.
“I want that bag,” Lynx point guard Courtney Williams said. “Straight up. Call a spade a spade. We gonna get that money.”
