Napheesa Collier has been the WNBA MVP frontrunner pretty much since opening night. She started the season with 34 points in a win over the Dallas Wings and then averaged 25.5 points, 8.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 2.3 steals and 1.4 blocks per game — with five double-doubles as the Lynx whipped off eight straight wins.
She had a first real clunker of the season in the Lynx's first lost — 9-of-23 from the field, as their win streak was ended by the Storm. But Minnesota bounced right back, ripping off seven straight wins, with five of them coming by double-digits, and Collier has quietly been just as good as she was in the first few weeks of the season.
No one could slow down Napheesa Collier last week
Collier averaged 23.7 points, 6.0 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.7 blocks per game last week, shooting 54.2 percent from the field. Those numbers aren't as impressive as what she did during the Lynx's eight-game winning streak to start the season, but they were just as impactful. They came in three games — all wins, by a combined 33 points — and the Lynx outscored opponents by 9.1 points per 100 possessions while she was on the floor.
Collier is still the overwhelming favorite to win MVP this season, after she finished second in the voting last season. She's also firmly in the mix for Defensive Player of the Year, which she won last season, and her Lynx have both the best record and point differential in the league by huge margins.
It's not clear if Collier will be chosen as the league's official WNBA Player of the Week — that will be announced tomorrow, July 8. She'll face tough competition from players like Aliyah Boston, who averaged 21.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in two games last week, or Wings rookie Aziaha James, who dropped 28 points in a win over the Mercury. But Collier is our FanSided pick for the best player of the week, and she's already taken home the official honor twice this season.
Collier and the Lynx face an extremely tough matchup Wednesday night, July 9, against the Phoenix Mercury. The Mercury are currently second in the standings, but Collier put up 18-11-5 against them in a 23-point win on June 3. After that, the schedule lightens up a bit with games against the Sparks and Sky — both of whom sit near the bottom of the league standings — on Thursday and Saturday.