One reason you can root for each team in the 2025 WNBA playoffs

An eventful and significant summer gives way to what WNBA fans have long been ready for. The 2025 playoffs are packed in with narrative intrigue. Expanded fandom and broadcast slots should put some fresh eyes on this bracket, and those lacking in outstanding allegiances just might find their new favorites to roll with this year.

We’re only touching the surface here, but below are reasons to cheer for each of the eight teams competing for the W’s title.

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1. Minnesota Lynx

Reason to root for them: They’re on a redemption tour in search of sweet revenge.

Last year’s Lynx were torturously close to a title. The 2024 WNBA Finals went a full five games, and that Game 5 spilled into overtime as it inspired the rawest of animus. “This s— was stolen from us,” Minnesota head coach Cheryl Reeve said at the postgame podium. Well, here’s their chance at proper payback.

Napheesa Collier’s crew led the W in scoring, 3-point efficiency, and both offensive and defensive ratings. They play with unshakable swagger and intense focus, from the supernova Collier to the sharpshooting Kayla McBride to the tenacious Stud Budz. A 2025 Lynx championship would complete their arc and vindicate their fans.

2. Las Vegas Aces

Reason to root for them: They can set the WNBA record for most consecutive wins.

Vegas was below .500 (12-13) in the last week of July. It was hard to watch and harder to make sense of, as Becky Hammon’s perennial contenders looked disoriented and deflated. Then … shuffle, deal, pocket Aces.

Behind A’ja Wilson’s celestial run, Las Vegas hits the postseason on a 16-game win streak, a scorched-earth stretch that has reinstalled it as a finals favorite. The WNBA all-time record is 18 consecutive wins by the 2001 Los Angeles Sparks. Outside of Nevadans and A’ja acolytes (a’colytes?), folks might root for the Aces in the hope of witnessing history.

3. Atlanta Dream

Reason to root for them: They bring it every night.

The Dream entered this spring on the heels of six straight losing seasons. They were clouded by an entire era of underperformance, tough luck and spiteful ownership. Who had Atlanta winning the East?!

Evidently this locker room believed in itself, as it churned out a remarkably balanced campaign (second in offensive and defensive ratings, No. 1 in rebounding). The Dream won six in a row from July 30 to Aug. 13, then stacked a second six-game win streak to seal their regular season. They lost back-to-back games twice all year. All this with a new head coach in Karl Smesko. The veteran presences of Allisha Gray, Brittney Griner, Brionna Jones and Jordin Canada should ensure this group’s main-stage readiness.

4. Phoenix Mercury

Reason to root for them: They are technicians in the team chemistry lab.

Ride with the Mercury and hitch to the desert wagon if you’re partial to good spacing and selfless offense. Alyssa Thomas dimes her teammates with a unique butteriness. Her 9.2 assists per game is the second-best mark in league history. “The Engine” has a clever spin move and Matrix-level court vision, spearheading the fastest offense in the playoff field (third overall in pace this season).

Thomas and DeWanna Bonner are a power couple in every sense. Kahleah Copper and Satou Sabally are inside-out buckets, too.

5. New York Liberty

Reason to root for them: They are still the queens, and queens stay queens.

Minnesota is mad and motivated, but New York is the titleholder until told otherwise. The reigning champs went through a funky back half of the season due to a wave of injuries, but the lineup is back to full strength when it matters most. Lock in with the Liberty for the national star power and top-shelf appeal: Breanna Stewart, Sabrina Ionescu, Jonquel Jones, Big Ellie.

6. Indiana Fever

Reason to root for them: They’re the strongest soldiers with the toughest battles … and the weirdest mascot.

“Stranger Things” indeed. It’s been a weird time for this team, which makes the first-round Fever-Dream matchup particularly fitting in name. Indy won the Commissioner’s Cup by dominating those dominant Lynx in the tournament title game. But the organization had to recalibrate after DeWanna Bonner’s exodus and Caitlin Clark’s scratched sophomore year. Then the Fever lost three more guards to season-ending injuries.

A lack of depth meant overextension for the lead duo of Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston. Indiana has been resilient in spite of its physical strain and uphill run, and a playoff upset without its main playmaker would be something to see for head coach Stephanie White.

Oh, and Indiana home games have Freddy Fever. What is this thing? And why do we feel instantly compelled to be by its side?!

7. Seattle Storm

Reason to root for them: They storm up and down the floor with a need for speed.

The Storm are likable for the way they push and pressurize opponents. Seattle topped the WNBA in both steals and blocks. It also finished No. 1 in fast-break scoring and in the top half in pace. Nneka Ogwumike gets to the rim (an impressive 58 percent on 2-pointers); Skylar Diggins and Brittney Sykes get to the line. If nothing else, the Storm have a scalable recipe to scramble a better opponent and threaten an upset.

8. Golden State Valkyries

Reason to root for them: They are unafraid to let it rip.

An expansion team reached the playoffs in its inaugural season. That in itself is worth celebrating. Having soared past expectations and sold out their San Francisco arena, Veronica Burton and the Valks have nothing to lose right now. Accordingly, their offense lets it fly from behind the arc, and no team sank more 3s this year.

The end results reflect the volatility of living by the long shot — Golden State strung together four consecutive wins in mid-August, followed by three straight losses, then five straight Ws and then three more Ls. Regardless of how it goes down, the amethyst warriors deserve credit for getting so far ahead of schedule.

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