Lindsay Whalen signs contract extension with Lynx

Lindsay Whalen has signed a multi-year contract extension with the Lynx. This deal will more than likely keep her with with the in Minnesota until her WNBA career is over.

The exact terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, it is likely a three-year contract extension. The WNBA maximum salary for a player with six years of league tenure is $107,000.

This is her 10th season in the WNBA, and fourth with the Lynx, Whalen is one of the big reasons the Lynx have become one of the top teams in the league. In 2011 they won the WNBA Championship but lost in the finals last year. The Lynx lead the Western Conference this season 23-7, with only four games left in the regular season.

Whalen, a native of Hutchinson, MN, is having one of her best seasons as a pro, averaging 14.7 points and 6.0 assists, both of which are career highs. On Wednesday, she tied a career high with 14 assists when the Lynx’s beat the Los Angeles Sparks 84-73.

Whalen was the 4^th overall pick by the Connecticut Sun in the 2004 draft, but she was acquired in a trade with the Sun in 2010. While the Lynx didn’t qualify for the playoffs that season, Whalen’s presence with rookie coach Cheryl Reeve began their turnaround from one of the worst teams in the WNBA to one of the best.

Whalen helped ignite interest in women’s basketball in the state when she led the U of M to the NCAA Women’s Final Four in 2004, her senior season with the Gophers.