Lynx star Napheesa Collier finished runner-up in voting for the WNBA’s Most Valuable Player award to the Aces’ A’ja Wilson for the second year in a row, the league announced Sunday.
Wilson, now a league-record four-time MVP, received 51 of 72 first-place votes from a body of national and local media members, who could rank five players on their ballots. Wilson’s 657 point total beat out Collier’s 534.
Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas — whom the Lynx face in the playoff semifinals this week — finished third, with 391 points, followed by Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray (180) and Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell (93 points).
In helping the Lynx to the No. 1 seed and league-best offensive and defensive ratings, Collier joined Elena Delle Donne as the only players in WNBA history to shoot 50% from the field, 40% from three-point range and 90% from the free throw line in a single season. Collier was first to do so while averaging over 20 points per game.
“It’s only been done once before,” Reeve said at the end of the regular season, “and that player was the MVP of the league.”
Though this year, Collier will not be.
Collier, drafted No. 6 out of the University of Connecticut in 2019, finished the regular season with career highs in points per game (22.9, 2nd in the league), blocks per game (1.5, 5th), field goal percentage (53.1%, 7th), three-point makes (1.5/game) and free-throw percentage (90.6%, 3rd).
Last year, Wilson’s historic season — setting WNBA records in total points and rebounds in a season — earned her unanimous MVP honors. Collier, the Star Tribune’s 2024 Sportsperson of the Year, took home Defensive Player of the Year and set a new postseason scoring record (285 points) to take the Lynx to the WNBA Finals, falling short to the Liberty in a controversial winner-take-all Game 5.
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