Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier brings do-it-all game to WNBA title contenders

For Minnesota Lynx winger Napheesa Collier, it was just like the closing of a chapter in history.

Since joining the WNBA as a rookie in 2019, Collier has watched the organization rejoice the tip of its most successful era in franchise history, an era that brought the Lynx 4 WNBA championships in seven seasons from 2011 to 2017 and featured several basketball legends and Hall of Fame talents who inspired a generation of future WNBA players.

In 2019, Collier saw the team retire Lindsay Whalen’s jersey. Seimone Augustus and Rebekkah Brunson had their jerseys retired in 2022. In 2023, it was Sylvia Fowles’ turn.

On August 24, the Lynx retired Maja Moore’s jersey in front of former players.

Since being named the 2019 Rookie of the Year, Collier has evolved from the long run face of the Lynx to the franchise player of the team, watching and learning from a dynastic era that established a winning culture in Minnesota and being handed the baton to proceed it.

This season, the Lynx (30-10) are doing just that. Behind an MVP-level season from Collier, who joins an elite class of WNBA performers, Minnesota is a title contender. As the Lynx prepare for a first-round playoff game as a No. 2 seed against the No. 7 Phoenix Mercury, they will likely be led by their “humble superstar” in Collier, who has set her sights on making a latest winning chapter in franchise history.

“When we retired (Maya’s jersey), I think that was the last of that generation and that era, so it feels like we’re making our own destiny now — and hopefully we can follow in their footsteps with a championship,” Collier said. “It definitely feels like a possibility for us this year.”

Before her jersey was retired on Aug. 24, Moore joined the Lynx commentary booth through the second quarter of the night’s contest between Minnesota and the Indiana Fever. When asked about what Collier did, Moore raved about Collier’s selfless nature, her desire to win and the way she supported her teammates.

“I love the spring in her step. She’s just solid. Consistent,” Moore said. “She just knows who she is and how to play.”

It took Collier a moment to work out who she was as knowledgeable within the WNBA. As she matured as a player, she learned more about herself. With such a high level of talent within the league, she was forced to discover a place to thrive on the WNBA level because what worked for her in college modified at the following level.

“Just finding what I’m best at, where I excel, where my value is on the team and what I can do to be successful,” Collier said. “I think over the years of doing that, I’ve found my space.”

That space, for Collier, saw her play at an MVP level as a two-way handyman for Minnesota. Collier finished the regular season averaging 20.4 points (fourth within the WNBA), 9.7 rebounds (third), 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals (second). Collier said she all the time knew she was able to that level and is glad it happened.

“I think the No. 4 position in this league is one of the best. To be considered for MVP at this level — it’s unbelievable,” Lynx point guard Kayla McBride said. “I think she’s just playing with a little more tenacity this year and the expectations she has for herself, a quiet confidence. I’m always impressed with how she handles that and how she carries it, and she’s definitely taken it to another level this year.”

Collier has set profession highs in every major statistical category this season. Collier has focused on developing her game this offseason, emphasizing mid-range and improving her 3-point shooting. Previously, Collier’s mid-range shooting volume was limited to 11.8 percent of her 2-point attempts. This 12 months, it’s 17.6 percent.

“I’m still working on the second one,” Collier joked.

Collier’s teammates praise her mentality and work ethic, her consistency and efficiency. Brunson likes Collier’s commitment to development.

“Phee is someone I think is a superstar in this league, but she’s very coachable. She’s become a better defender. She’s become a better perimeter shooter,” said Brunson, a Lynx assistant coach since 2020. “She knows she has her favorite moves, but she still listens to us about the crease she needs to make, the counterattacks she needs to make. She’s still developing.”

Another strength of Collier’s game is her toughness and sturdiness. She’s never really been off the court for the Lynx, which has been the case since she entered the league and averaged 33.3 minutes per game as a rookie. Collier is averaging 2.58 miles, according to Second Spectrum, probably the most of any player this season (minimum 15 games played).

“She’s so good, you never want to take her out of the game,” Brunson said. “She’s still working on her body, her physicality, making sure she’s stronger and more durable in the offseason. That’s very important. No matter how good you are, if you can’t stay on the field, if you can’t be available for your team, it doesn’t matter. She’s someone you know you can count on. I think that’s definitely the key to this team’s success.”

Collier’s miles should not only a measure of her minutes, but her activity in possession. On offense, she averages about 1.42 miles per game, second within the league behind Caitlin Clark (1.46, min. 15 games played this season).

“The hardest thing for me to guard is the guys that move around a lot,” Collier said. “I think just trying to be as active as possible is really tough for the defense to keep up with you and know what you’re doing. That’s definitely something I try to do.”

Collier can often touch every level of the sector on a single possession and be involved in multiple plays because the Lynx navigate to get one of the best looks. Of the 4 kinds of plays Second Spectrum tracks (handoffs, isolations, picks and post-ups), Collier and New York Liberty wing Breanna Stewart are the one players within the league with greater than 70 plays while playing all 4 plays. Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve describes Collier’s brand of offense as “opportunistic.” Sometimes it’s Collier’s ability to exploit defenses which are out of position, other times it’s her flying in from the perimeter to grab an offensive rebound and finish a second-chance point.

In the WNBA’s superteam era, where accumulating star players has been the title-winning strategy for a lot of teams, from the New York Liberty within the East to the Seattle Storm and Phoenix Mercury within the West, the Lynx see themselves because the latter.

“When you beat a team like New York, that’s a superteam, and we’re not a superteam, we’re a collective,” Reeve said after the Lynx beat the Liberty on Sept. 15. Minnesota finished the regular season 2-1 against New York, excluding a Commissioner’s Cup final win over the Liberty in June. “They believe in each other and they believe in our collective. There’s more than one way to be successful.”

While on paper the team doesn’t have many Olympians or All-WNBA players, it’s not without star talent. The secret’s the team’s composition.

“It all comes down to what we can do as a team to win,” Collier said. “When you have a team like that — that really doesn’t care about individual accolades, just the team and winning — number one, it’s really hard to find in the WNBA, and number two, I think that’s definitely a recipe for greatness.”

The Lynx have considered one of the league’s best defenses. They rank second in defensive rating and steals and first in opponents’ field goal percentage (41%). The defense is anchored by Collier, a contender for this 12 months’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Collier’s defensive impact is clear in her ability to alter opponents’ shots. According to Second Spectrum, she is holding opponents to just 36.2 percent field goal shooting as a closest defender this season, the bottom within the league (amongst 114 players who had 100 field goal attempts against them as a closest defender). Collier ranks third within the league in steals per game and fourth in defensive rebounds (7.5 per game).

“Defensively, being able to take on the challenge of the great centers in our league — whatever we ask of her, she rises to the occasion,” McBride said. “I think she’s just playing with a little more tenacity and the expectations she has for herself this year.”

Minnesota’s offensive strength comes from balance. The Lynx are second in field goal percentage and the WNBA’s best 3-point shooting team. They have 4 players within the league’s top 10 in 3-point percentage, and forward Bridget Carleton and McBride lead the league amongst players with greater than 190 attempts. Courtney Williams is a number one mid-range threat and leads a team that leads the league in assists.

“I know a lot of times teams focus on me. If I have the ball, I open it up for someone else,” Collier said. “I can go into the center position and do something or pass it to the other side. We have so many threats on the team, it’s impossible to guard all of us.”

With Minnesota in search of its first championship since 2017, the last title won by the previous Lynx dynasty, Brunson said the message to Collier is obvious: No matter who you play, you could have to create your personal legacy.

“I don’t think Phee is thinking about how she fits into what we’ve done. She has her own goals and things she wants to accomplish with this team. I think the most important thing for her is that she understands that,” Brunson said. “Yes, there’s pride in wearing a Lynx uniform, but for her to be in the moment and know what she wants to carve out for herself and her teammates, I think she’s got a great head on her shoulders.”

Collier has emphasized her growth as a locker room leader yearly. She draws on what she learned from the team’s best players, whom she calls one of the best leaders she’s ever had. She’s taken the winning traits she saw playing alongside Augustus and Fowles and has been trying to embody them ever since. She’s grateful to have Brunson coaching her, an countless source of what it takes to win the massive game.

With Collier leading the way in which, we hope the Lynx team can gain that have first-hand.

“We have the talent to do it,” Collier said. “We just feel like we’re, hopefully, repeating history.”