For the previous yr, Napheesa Collier has been on a mission to show she’s the very best ladies’s basketball participant on this planet.
On Saturday, Collier was locked in on that once more, dominating the all-star recreation and reminding everybody why the Minnesota Lynx star is the runaway favourite for the WNBA MVP Award with a record-breaking 36 factors.
After being named MVP of the Unmatched league, Collier hasn’t slowed down in any respect this season, main the WNBA in scoring common (23.2), along with rating within the high 10 in rebounds (7.6), steals (1.8) and blocks (1.6), in addition to free throw share (94.6).
On high of being the very best participant on the league’s greatest workforce, Collier dominated the WNBA All-Star Recreation Saturday in Indianapolis, stealing the present on an evening the place the most important story was the truth that Caitlin Clark wasn’t taking part in.
WNBA All-Stars additionally made waves in pre-game warmups, carrying shirts that mentioned, “Pay us what you owe us.”
It is a daring stance because the WNBA and its gamers renegotiate their collective bargaining settlement.
Collier is a frontrunner in that struggle. However on Saturday, she made a daring assertion of one other sort, setting a WNBA All-Star Recreation report with 36 factors to earn MVP honors.
Protection felt non-obligatory within the recreation, however no one else scored greater than 20 factors. Collier was 4-of-5 from three-point vary, and pulled down 9 rebounds, whereas making 13-of-16 shot makes an attempt. She was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line, however free throws weren’t truly tried.
So the 36 factors have a slight asterisk, though Collier most likely would have made the free throws, contemplating she’s made 9.4 out of each 10 makes an attempt this season.
Collier has been the very best participant within the WNBA — even the world — for some time. It isn’t a secret, a minimum of to those that have been paying consideration. Saturday’s All-Star Recreation was simply one other reminder.
