Retribution or "getting a lick back," is the universal love language of sports. It is the flavor that is savored. The thought of losing in heartbreak, infamy, or infamous heartbreak and avenging those losses in a dominant fashion is intoxicating. It’s therapeutic. It’s orgasmic, and it’s so visceral and relatable. Fans live vicariously through athletes in this scenario.
For Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, someone had to pay for the L’s she took in 2024. The gut punches in the WNBA Finals and Unrivaled Finals. She has receipts to give for them. Someone has to pay for that and pay for it all.
In Collier’s mind, why not take all of that disappointment and all of those slights and use them as fuel? If Collier was going to be mad, she might as well be pissed off for motivation.
Currently, Collier has carried this mentality to a WNBA-leading 24.4 points per game. She’s also averaging 8.5 rebounds per game, good for third in the league. Her Lynx squad rocks the best record in the league at 14-2. She's an All-Star captain and the frontrunner for league MVP, and her skills will be on display in the Commissioner’s Cup final on Tuesday against the visiting Indiana Fever (8 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video).
Phee is doling out receipts left and right this season. Here’s how she’s doing it.
In the inaugural season of Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league that Collier co-founded with New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart, Phee put on an absolute show. She led the league in scoring in the regular season (25.7 points per game) and in the playoffs (36.0). She won league MVP, made first team All-Unrivaled, and won the inaugural 1-on-1 tournament. She maintained that prolific scoring into the WNBA season, and she leads the league in player efficiency rating at 31.4.
Unrivaled players, due to the 3-on-3 format, had a lot of space to work with and freedom to create. Collier has taken her scoring to a career-best level this season in part because of her games and reps during the winter.
G | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | 3-pt FG% |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
13 |
24.4 |
8.5 |
3.7 |
.525 |
.396 |
Collier is the reigning WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year, and she’s carrying the same dominance over to this season. She ranks among the league’s top five in rebounds (third), blocks (fourth), and steals (fourth). The Lynx as a whole lead the league in blocks and rank fourth in steals.
Minnesota held the Connecticut Sun to nine points in the second quarter in their 102-63 romp Sunday night. Collier is a catalyst of the team’s defensive identity and intensity. Add in the fact that the Lynx rank second in the league in scoring (85.3 points per game), and it’s easy to make a strong case for Minnesota as a title favorite.
The ability to get players to buy into a goal and mission is extremely valuable in the building of a champion. Collier sets the tone, and that tone is built off of grit and competition. Recently, former Lynx star Seimone Augustus sat in on a practice and was impressed with how the player she once took under her wing navigates the team dynamic.
“Phee get a little spunky out there; she’ll toughen them up a bit,” Augustus said of Collier. “They had a little scuffle the other night, and I was kind of around, like yeah, that’s what we do. We don’t take no stuff.”
The way you practice shows up when the ball tips off. Judging from this insight from Augustus and the team’s place atop the standings, Minnesota’s practices are just as intense and competitive as their games.
And Collier is once again the catalyst.
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