Cheryl Reeve, head coach and president of basketball operations for the Minnesota Lynx, was awarded the 2026 WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year, as announced by the WNBA on October 12, 2026. This marks her third time receiving the honor, tying her with Dan Padover, executive vice president and general manager of the Atlanta Dream, for the most selections in the award's history.
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Reeve had previously won the award in 2019 and 2024. This year, she also achieved her fifth State Street Investment Management SPY WNBA Coach of the Year Award, becoming the first individual to win both the Executive of the Year and Coach of the Year in the same season on two occasions, having done so in 2024 and again in 2026. Curt Miller, general manager of the Dallas Wings, is the only other person to receive both awards in the same season, achieving this in 2017 with the Connecticut Sun.
The selection of the award was made by a voting panel comprising one basketball executive from each of the WNBA's 15 teams. Each member voted for three executives in order of preference without being able to vote for themselves. Reeve received 13 votes, with Padover following at 11 and Ohemaa Nyanin, general manager of the Golden State Valkyries, on eight ballots. Other finalists included Curt Miller with five votes, Vanja Černivec of the Portland Fire with four, Michael Winger of the Washington Mystics with three, and Monica Wright Rogers of the Toronto Tempo with one.
Under Reeve’s leadership, the Lynx concluded the season with a 33-11 record and secured the top seed in the WNBA Playoffs. They set a league record with 18 road wins and achieved a 10-game winning streak, their longest since 2016. In the 2023 WNBA Draft, Reeve selected guard Olivia Miles with the second overall pick and signed veteran forward Natasha Howard. Miles went on to be named the unanimous 2026 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year, setting a rookie record with 790 points, while Howard started all 44 games and earned a spot in the 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game.
Reeve also received WNBA Coach of the Month honors for June and served as an All-Star head coach for the sixth time. On July 8, she surpassed 380 career victories, becoming the all-time leader in regular-season coaching wins. She concluded the regular season with 397 wins.
The following is a list of past winners of the WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year Award since its inception in 2017:
- 2017 – Curt Miller, Connecticut
- 2018 – Chris Sienko, Atlanta
- 2019 – Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota
- 2020 – Dan Padover, Las Vegas
- 2021 – Dan Padover, Las Vegas
- 2022 – James Wade, Chicago
- 2023 – Jonathan Kolb, New York
- 2024 – Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota
- 2025 – Dan Padover, Atlanta
- 2026 – Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota.