The Minnesota Lynx had a magical regular season, entering the WNBA playoffs as the No. 1 seed for the second consecutive season. However, just like last year, their quest for a WNBA title ended in heartbreak.

On Tuesday night, the Lynx were swept out of the playoffs by the No. 8 seed New York Liberty. After stealing Game 1 in Minnesota, the Liberty played an excellent game back home in Brooklyn to get an 87-71 win and move onto the second round.

This loss, the latest in a string of postseason heartbreaks for this Lynx core, raises a lot of questions about some of the stars on the team. The core of Napheesa Collier, Kayla McBride and Courtney Williams have played three seasons together, and McBride and Collier have been together for six seasons now.

After the loss, McBride talked about the “Big 3” in Minnesota and what they mean to her, via WNBA insider Khristina Williams.

Kayla McBride gets emotional postgame reflecting on Minnesota’s Big 3. pic.twitter.com/YM94Zic5aU

— Khristina (@Khristina) September 30, 2026

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“We love each other, we got to each other at special times in our career,” McBride said. “What we've created in Minnesota, our culture, when people come into it, they love it. They love being apart of what we've been able to grow these last couple of years. That's not lost on me. These are two really, really special people. People, before anything. So that embrace is the people that are sitting next to me, my sisters, people that I love that'll be in my life forever.”

McBride and Williams are both under contract for the 2027 season, so it's likely that they will be back alongside Olivia Miles in the Lynx backcourt. However, Collier is an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and it sounds like a departure is on the table.

Collier started the season on the sideline after recovering from offseason ankle surgery, and the Lynx raced out to a red-hot start thanks to Miles. When Collier returned, however, she was a bit of a wonky fit next to Miles and never quite found her All-WNBA form from before the injury. As a result, she might be out of Minnesota in 2027.