Exciting update in Indy.
Indiana Fever GM Shares Exciting News About Franchise Legend on Monday originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Across the last two decades, few figures have been as present within the Indiana Fever organization as Lin Dunn.
She is the winningest head coach in Fever history (119-85), steered Indiana to its first (and only) WNBA championship in 2012 and is the executive who returned from retirement to help steer Indiana’s rebuild.
Coach Stephanie White (an assistant at the time) succeeded Dunn in 2014 after opting to retire, yet came back as the Fever's GM from 2022 to 2024 and now serves as a senior advisor for the franchise.
On Monday, current Fever COO and GM Amber Cox shared that Dunn will receive the WNBA’s annual Inspiring Women Award and that the league will name the award after her going forward.
Fever GM Amber Cox shares with the team that Lin Dunn is the recipient of the Inspiring Women award — and it will be named after her going forward pic.twitter.com/WdCzJ5JFiZ
— Scott Agness (@ScottAgness) August 11, 2025
Lin Dunn's Legacy and Accomplishments
A Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame inductee (2014), Dunn began coaching in 1970 at Austin Peay State before taking over at Ole Miss (1977-78), Miami (1978-87) and Purdue (1978-96).
Over 25 seasons as a college head coach, Dunn amassed a 447-257 overall record and guided her teams to seven NCAA tournaments, including four Sweet Sixteen appearances and Purdue’s first Women’s Final Four in 1994.
Afterwards, Dunn moved on to coach at the professional level for the ABL's Portland Power in 1997, one year before the league folded.
She then became the first head coach and general manager of the expansion Seattle Storm in the WNBA, setting the foundation that soon welcomed franchise cornerstones Lauren Jackson and Sue Bird.
However, arguably her greatest accomplishments came in Indiana.
She began as an assistant coach (2004-07), then head coach (2008-14), compiling a franchise-best 119-85 (.583) record.
She led Indiana to the 2009 WNBA Finals and Indiana's first WNBA championship in 2012, with Tamika Catchings as Finals MVP.
After retiring in 2014, Dunn returned as Fever interim GM in 2022 (later permanent), launching a three-year rebuild that selected Aliyah Boston (No. 1 pick, 2023 Rookie of the Year) and, a year later, Caitlin Clark (No. 1 pick, 2024), before moving to a senior advisor role this season.
Why Dunn Earned the Inspiring Women Award
For a recognition that has historically celebrated impact across sports, media and civic leadership, the renaming acknowledges a career that includes building teams, winning at the sport’s highest levels and fighting for access and dignity in eras that offered neither easily.
Dunn navigated women’s athletics from the AIAW era through NCAA adoption and into the professional age, bridging college, international and WNBA ecosystems.
She also demonstrated repeatable and scalable leadership, from building up college programs to pioneering WNBA expansion franchises and becoming the only coach to win a championship in Indiana.
Additionally, she's been a consistent voice for gender equity, LGBTQ+ inclusion and coaching pathways for women, with a decades-long record of promoting and developing female staff in collegiate and professional programs.
Related: WNBA Team in Line for Punishment After Indiana Fever Game
Related: Lakers President Jeanie Buss Has Unexpected Offer for Indiana Fever’s Sophie Cunningham
This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 12, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Basketball
