2025 WNBA Playoffs: Why Sky Fans Should Watch Valkyries vs. Lynx
The Chicago Sky debuted in the league in 2006. It wasn't until the 2013 WNBA season that the team made its first-ever trip to the postseason.
Luckily for the Golden State Valkyries (23-21), they didn't have to wait that long to make the playoffs. In their first season, the Valkyries have set the tone for perhaps the most successful year for a team's inaugural season.
The official bracket for the 2025 WNBA Playoffs presented by @Google is set 🚨
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 12, 2025
Round 1 begins Sunday, September 14! pic.twitter.com/h591q7gCt1
Their prize is getting the team with the best record in the league. The Minnesota Lynx (34-10) are focused on winning their sixth WNBA title. They lost in the Finals last year to the New York Liberty.
On Sunday, Game 1 of this playoff series begins. Can the Valkyries keep their golden inaugural season alive, or will Minnesota leave Golden Sate out in the cold on their way to a potentially historic WNBA championship?
Sky connections with the Valkyries and Lynx?
Tyler Marsh and Natalie Nakase were both assistant coaches for the Las Vegas Aces together for three years. The two entered the 2025 WNBA regular season as first time head coaches. Only one had a successful first season in their position.
In Marsh's first season with the Sky, the team won just 10 games, three fewer than Chicago's win total the year before. Nakase inherited a newcomer to the league who had a record-setting year in their inaugural season.
Furthermore, Maria Conde was one of several players Golden State picked in their Expansion Draft Selection. Conde is a small forward from Madrid, Spain who the Sky took in the 2019 WNBA Draft. The Valkyries now have the draft rights for the 28-year-old athlete, though she has yet to play in the WNBA.
The Valkyries are the first expansion draft team to make the playoffs in their first year and win more than 20 games in their inaugural season. Chicago didn't qualify for the postseason until their eighth year in the WNBA.
During the 2024 WNBA Draft, it was famously the Minnesota Lynx and the Chicago Sky that engaged in a trade that evening. The Lynx had the seventh overall pick and the Sky had the eighth. Forward Angel Reese went to the Windy City, and Alissa Pili was sent to the Twin Cities.
In addition, one of Minnesota's guards should look familiar to Sky fans. The Lynx's Courtney Williams played for Chicago in 2023, the last season that the 2021 WNBA champions were in the playoffs.
How Chicago did against Golden State and Minnesota in 2025?
The Sky lost all three regular-season matches against the Valkyries this year. The first two losses were by five points and seven points, respectively. The third and final meeting this season was a 90-59 blowout loss at Wintrust Arena.
As bad as Chicago's season went, it wasn't always because they faced the Lynx. Chicago went 1-2 against Minnesota this year. After losing the first meeting by five points, the Sky stunned the Lynx and beat them at Wintrust Arena in early July, 87-81.
The Sky fell to the Lynx, 91-78, two days later. Napheesa Collier, one of the leading candidates for MVP, averaged 24.7 points and 6.3 rebounds each time she faced Chicago. Depending on what the Sky front office does in free agency and next year's WNBA Draft, they, too, can make the playoffs.
My name is Scott Conrad and I am a Contributor for the Chicago Sky with Sports Illustrated.com. I am also a Contributor with FanSided on NinerNoise, as well as Da Windy City. In addition, I am the Site Editor/Expert for The View from Avalon. I spent two seasons (2015 & 2016) with the Tampa Bay Times as a Correspondent covering high school football. I am a two-time published author with more work to come. In my teenage years, I started watching both MLS and WNBA start in 1996 and grow to be the juggernauts they are in their respective sports. Much love to the career on and off the court for fellow-Napervillian and former Sky forward Candace Parker. Outside of the sports journalism world, I am a travel volleyball coach. I accepted the Head Coach position with Greater Cincinnati Volleyball Club for their U13-2 team. In terms of active sports, I play volleyball, soccer, softball, kickball and train in mixed martial arts.