WNBA Coach of the Year Odds 2026: Cheryl Reeve is Favorite

Cheryl Reeve has led the Minnesota Lynx to the best record in the league, making her an easy WNBA Coach of the Year favorite at the BetMGM online sportsbook.

Here’s a breakdown of the latest WNBA betting lines and best predictions for the 2026 Coach of the Year race:

Odds to Win WNBA Coach of the Year 2026

Who Will Win WNBA Coach of the Year in 2026?

Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve is the betting favorite in the 2026 WNBA Coach of the Year market at BetMGM. Listed at -500, Reeve has an implied probability of 83.33% to win the award.

Reeve is the fourth different favorite in the WNBA Coach of the Year betting market.

Atlanta Dream coach Karl Smesko, who opened as the favorite, was passed by Indiana Fever’s Stephanie White just before the start of the regular season. New York Liberty coach Chris DeMarco became the favorite following the opening weekend, but relinquished his lead to Smesko in late May.

I backed Smesko at 20/1 a year ago, and the case for him was compelling — he guided Atlanta to 30 wins and the No. 3 seed in his debut campaign. The market has clearly recalibrated around him since, and therein lies the problem. With the Dream’s preseason win total set at 29.5, there isn’t enough upside baked into a roster that’s now expected to perform at last year’s level. That ceiling makes Smesko a difficult sell at his current price.

The same logic applies to several contenders. White, DeMarco, and Las Vegas Aces head coach Becky Hammon all lead the top rosters in the league. Without a genuine surprise element to their seasons, it’s hard to see how any of them generate the kind of voter momentum needed to take home the award.

Defending winner Natalie Nakase offers better value to repeat. What she accomplished with the Golden State Valkyries in 2025 was genuinely unprecedented, steering them to the playoffs in their inaugural season — something no expansion franchise had ever done before. The problem is that history works against her.

The only coach in WNBA history to win the award in consecutive seasons is Van Chancellor, who claimed it in each of the league’s first three years with the Houston Comets. That’s a difficult precedent to overcome.

That said, this has become Reeve’s award to lose at this point.

Reeve, who is considered the best coach in the league, has been one of the biggest risers in the market. She’s guided the Lynx to the league’s best record without their best player, though Napheesa Collier has recently returned. Minnesota also had to replace several rotation players from last year’s team.

Prediction: Cheryl Reeve

List of WNBA Coach of the Year Winners