Cheryl Reeve has built one of the most decorated coaching careers in women’s basketball, but there is another person who has been closely connected to her journey for many years. Reeve’s wife, Carley Knox, has built an influential career of her own with the Minnesota Lynx, giving the couple a rare partnership where basketball, business and family regularly cross paths.
Reeve and Knox first met while working for the Detroit Shock in 2006. Reeve was an assistant coach at the time, while Knox worked on the organization’s business side. Their relationship developed away from the attention Reeve would later receive as one of the WNBA’s most recognizable coaches.
They married in 2011, shortly after Reeve led Minnesota to its first WNBA championship. More than a decade later, the couple remain important figures within the Lynx organization and are raising their son, Oliver.
Reeve gave a particularly personal look at their marriage around her 2026 induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame. She credited Knox with helping her become more open about who she was and described the two of them as a team, both at home and within the wider world of women’s sports.
Who Is Cheryl Reeve’s Wife?
Cheryl Reeve’s wife is Carley Knox, a sports business executive whose career has been closely connected to women’s professional basketball.
Knox is not simply known because she married a famous WNBA coach. She has spent years working on the commercial and organizational side of the sport and has developed a substantial role with the Minnesota Lynx.
As of 2026, Knox serves as president of business operations for the Lynx. Her responsibilities place her on the business side of the organization, while Reeve serves as head coach and president of basketball operations.
It creates an unusual situation for a married couple. They are both helping shape the same professional basketball franchise, but their responsibilities are very different.
Reeve focuses heavily on players, roster construction, coaching and basketball decisions. Knox’s work is more closely connected to the business operation, fan experience and growth of the organization.
Their careers overlap, but neither person is simply following the other.
How Cheryl Reeve Met Carley Knox
The story of Cheryl Reeve and Carley Knox began before Reeve became synonymous with the Minnesota Lynx.
They met in 2006 while both were working for the Detroit Shock. Reeve was an assistant coach under Bill Laimbeer, while Knox worked as the team’s director of sales and marketing.
Detroit was one of the WNBA’s strongest teams during that period. Reeve was building her reputation as a coach, while Knox was developing her career on the business side of professional sports.
Their relationship eventually grew beyond work.
By the time Reeve arrived in Minnesota, the two had already known each other for several years. Reeve was hired to coach the Lynx ahead of the 2010 season, beginning a chapter that would completely change her professional career.
Minnesota won its first WNBA championship in 2011. Just days after the championship parade, Reeve and Knox married.
It was a remarkable stretch personally and professionally. Reeve had reached the top of the WNBA as a head coach while also beginning married life with the person who would remain beside her through the next stages of her career.
Carley Knox Has Her Own Career With the Lynx
Carley Knox has gradually become one of the important figures behind the Lynx’s business operations.
Her experience stretches back to the Detroit Shock, where she worked in sales and marketing. After moving into the Minnesota organization, she continued taking on greater responsibilities.
By 2021, Knox had become president of business operations for the Lynx.
That role puts her in a different part of the organization from her wife. Reeve has responsibility for what happens on the basketball side, while Knox works closely with the business surrounding the team and its relationship with supporters.
Reeve acknowledged that difference during an interview surrounding her 2026 Hall of Fame induction. She described Knox as more forward-facing with fans and credited the work she has done behind the scenes.
For Reeve, their shared influence goes beyond winning basketball games. She has spoken about creating an environment where players and others around the organization can comfortably be themselves.
How Carley Knox Influenced Cheryl Reeve
One of Reeve’s most revealing comments about her wife came before her induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Reeve explained that Knox helped her become more comfortable openly acknowledging their relationship.
The two come from different generations, and Reeve admitted that she grew up during a period when people were often less willing to discuss personal matters publicly.
Knox approached things differently.
Reeve recalled that early in their relationship, Knox made it clear that she did not want to exist as a hidden girlfriend. Her attitude encouraged Reeve to be more open about their relationship and eventually helped her feel empowered to live more publicly as herself.
Reeve even joked that she initially found Knox’s insistence somewhat annoying.
Over time, however, she came to appreciate what her partner was encouraging her to do.
That influence extended into Reeve’s approach to leadership. Rather than telling players exactly how they should express themselves, Reeve has emphasized creating a space where they can make their own choices and feel supported.
She has credited Knox with helping her reach that point.
Cheryl Reeve and Carley Knox’s Son Oliver
Basketball may dominate their professional schedules, but family remains central to Reeve and Knox.
The couple are parents to a son, Oliver Knox-Reeve.
Oliver has grown up surrounded by the WNBA and has occasionally appeared publicly alongside his mothers. He attended Reeve’s 2026 Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame induction in Knoxville, Tennessee, walking into the event with Reeve and Knox.
His connection to basketball is hardly surprising.
Reeve has jokingly referred to Oliver as her assistant general manager because of how closely he follows the league. By 2026, he was 11 and already had strong opinions about WNBA players and lineups.
Yet Reeve has also spoken about raising him in a broader context.
She has discussed the importance of boys growing up seeing strong women as leaders, athletes and decision-makers. In her view, women’s sports can influence not only young girls who dream of becoming professional athletes, but also boys whose understanding of leadership is shaped by the women they watch.
That idea has become part of how Reeve and Knox approach both parenting and their professional lives.
A Marriage Connected to Women’s Sports
Few couples are positioned inside the growth of women’s professional sports quite like Reeve and Knox.
Their work does not end with the Lynx. Both have supported the broader women’s sports community in Minnesota, and they have also been connected with Minnesota Aurora FC.
Their involvement reflects something larger than a single basketball franchise. Both have spent significant parts of their careers working in environments where women’s professional sports have fought for greater investment, audiences and recognition.
Reeve has been part of the WNBA since 2001, meaning she witnessed the league during years when its long-term future was frequently questioned.
Knox has experienced that evolution from the business side.
Together, they have watched women’s basketball move into a dramatically different era, with growing attendance, investment and cultural attention.
Carley Was Beside Cheryl During Her Hall of Fame Moment
One of the clearest illustrations of their partnership came during Reeve’s 2026 induction into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame.
Knox and Oliver accompanied her to the ceremony in Knoxville.
For Reeve, the honor represented far more than an individual achievement. She repeatedly acknowledged the players, coaches and family members who helped shape her career.
She also made clear that Knox had been central to her life away from the court.
Reeve’s Hall of Fame career has been built on extraordinary basketball success. She guided Minnesota to four WNBA championships and collected multiple Coach of the Year honors. In July 2026, she added another major achievement when she recorded her 380th regular-season victory and became the winningest head coach in WNBA regular-season history.
Knox has been present through nearly all of Reeve’s Minnesota era.
Cheryl Reeve’s Historic Lynx Career
Reeve’s accomplishments help explain why interest in her family has grown along with her profile.
After beginning her WNBA coaching career as an assistant with the Charlotte Sting in 2001, she later worked with the Cleveland Rockers and Detroit Shock before getting her opportunity to become a head coach.
Minnesota hired Reeve in December 2009, and her first season as Lynx head coach came in 2010.
What followed changed the franchise.
The Lynx won championships in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, becoming the defining WNBA dynasty of that period.
Players including Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen, Rebekkah Brunson and Sylvia Fowles became closely associated with those championship teams.
Reeve later expanded her role beyond coaching and became president of basketball operations.
Her influence also reached international basketball. She has been part of multiple U.S. Olympic gold medal campaigns and served as head coach of the American women’s national team that won gold at the Paris Olympics.
Her 2026 Hall of Fame induction recognized a career that was still very much active rather than one that had already ended.
Family Remains at the Center of Reeve’s Story
For all the trophies and coaching records, Reeve speaks about her family differently from the way she discusses basketball.
Knox has been part of her life since before the Minnesota dynasty existed. She was there as Reeve moved from assistant coach to head coach, through championships, Olympic competition and eventually Hall of Fame recognition.
Their son has grown up alongside that journey.
Reeve has also suggested that she wants to remain involved with women’s basketball even when her coaching career eventually ends. She has spoken about the possibility of becoming part of a WNBA ownership group someday, continuing to invest in a league she has spent much of her adult life helping build.
That possibility fits naturally with the life Reeve and Knox have created.
Basketball is their profession, but it is also woven into their family story. Knox has helped develop the Lynx from the business side while Reeve has shaped the franchise on the court.
Their partnership has now lasted through championship seasons, difficult losses, enormous changes in women’s sports and the raising of their son.
For people searching for Cheryl Reeve’s wife, Carley Knox is much more than a name attached to the Hall of Fame coach. She has a career and influence of her own, and her partnership with Reeve has become an important part of one of the most successful stories in modern women’s basketball.