INDIANAPOLIS – There are few WNBA players with more clout right now than Napheesa Collier.
The Minnesota Lynx forward is the midseason favorite for MVP, leading the league in scoring and stuffing the box in almost every other stat category, too. She’s the driving force on the league’s winningest team, one that looks certain to be in the mix for the title yet again. She was No. 2 in fan voting for the All-Star Game.
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Off the court, Collier is part of the executive committee that’s negotiating for what is arguably the most pivotal contract in the WNBA’s history while Unrivaled, the offseason 3×3 league she and UConn teammate Breanna Stewart cofounded, set a new standard for what women’s sports can achieve when players are supported and celebrated.
“Phee is one of one,” said Courtney Williams, Collier’s teammate with the Lynx, Unrivaled’s Lunar Owls and, on Saturday night, the All-Star Team Collier will captain. “Every aspect – when you think of a business woman, when you think of one of the best players in the world, she checking off all the boxes. So I feel like if you wasn’t hip to it, you ain’t got no choice now.
“I’m loving that she’s getting the recognition that she deserves.”
Longtime or knowledgeable W fans already knew. After winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2019, Collier was top five in MVP voting in three of her next five seasons (she missed most of 2022 after having daughter Mila), including being runner-up to A’ja Wilson last season.
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This year, Collier leads the W in scoring, her 23.9 points per game almost 2.5 points better than Wilson. She’s also in the top 10 in rebounds (7.7), steals (1.7) and blocks (1.6) through Monday night’s games.
She’s nearly impossible to defend because she doesn’t have tendencies and her movement, with and without the ball, is so fluid. And her turnaround fadeaway off one foot is lethal, quite possibly the best shot in all of basketball.
Good as Collier is, however, she often flew under the radar.
“I’ve asked the question for a long time. I think the simple answer is she’s not physically imposing. That 6-6, kind of A’ja Wilson build,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “When you look at (Collier), what you have to appreciate is the purity of her movements in her basketball. And so that’s why I think it takes a while.
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“You have to sit there and watch it to go, `Oh wow,’” Reeve said. “Your eyes don’t pop when you turn on the TV or you go to a game. Your eyes don’t go to her physically. And I think that’s a big part of it.”
But everyone is now seeing what W players recognized long ago: Collier is a force, and you underestimate her at your own peril.
More: Lynx star Kayla McBride to replace injured Rhyne Howard at WNBA All-Star Game
Unrivaled has shown the W what it can be
Since its inception, one of the WNBA’s biggest challenges has been its offseason. The season is short, six months at most compared with nine for the NBA, so players were forced to find ways to earn money and keep their games sharp the rest of the year.
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For most, that meant going overseas. Being a nomad had always taken a toll, but Brittney Griner’s nearly yearlong wrongful imprisonment in Russia raised concerns about player safety.
Collier and Stewart, who played together on UConn’s 2016 national championship team, offered an answer with Unrivaled. The 3×3 league launched in January and lasted three months, a perfect bridge to the WNBA.
“It’s so important that they are competing in the offseason against one another. It’s more iron sharpens iron,” said Alex Bazzell, Unrivaled’s president and Collier’s husband.
Bazzell would know. The longtime skills coach for NBA and WNBA players has for years watched NBA players spend their offseasons playing together or working out together in Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
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“The women have really never had that at their disposal at this level,” Bazzell said.
But it soon became apparent Unrivaled was a game-changer off the court, as well.
More: What’s next for Unrivaled? Year 2 will include visits to other markets, more players
The league offered players equity and monster salaries; the average salary, about $222,000, was more than $5,000 above the WNBA’s maximum salary this year. (The WNBA also has a supermax salary of almost $250,000, according to HerHoopStats.com.)
Unrivaled also was hyperconscious of player needs, including first-class facilities, a personal chef at the arena, a glam room and child care. The league also housed the players in spacious apartments and offered vetted nannies for off-hours.
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Sure, Unrivaled had an advantage of playing in one locale and didn’t have the expense of travel costs. It also had a laundry list of top-tier sponsors – Sephora, Samsung, Ally, to name a few – and big-name investors, as well as a national TV contract from the opening tip.
But if a startup league could do this – in its first season, no less – it’s put pressure on the WNBA to keep up.
Just as negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement were ramping up.
“We didn’t create a model for that purpose, but I think we definitely knew that it has to have an effect. Especially when players came in and they were saying, `This is nice to be treated this way. I’m not having this on my W teams,’” Collier said.
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“Showing players what their worth is and how they should be treated, that was a really fun part of it and I think it affects (the game) in a positive way,” she added. “Because, again, I think it just shows the players what the professional experience should be like and holds the league’s feet to the fire in that way.”
As the W grows, CBA negotiations heat up
And Collier is making sure that continues.
The W is reaping the benefits of both the explosion of interest in women’s sports and the Caitlin Clark effect. Sponsors are clamoring for a piece of the league, team valuations are skyrocketing and a fat new TV contract kicks in next season. Though WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said players deserve a significant bump in this new CBA, the players said the league’s initial offer was underwhelming.
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“They kind of just ignored everything we said,” Stewart, who like Collier is also part of the WNBPA’s executive committee, said earlier in July.
So it did not go unnoticed that during the All-Star Game draft, televised nationally on ESPN, Collier wore Unrivaled gear and name-dropped that league several times. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that the days of players being grateful for anything they get are over, and the W would be foolish to underestimate their resolve.
“Now more than ever, players understand the business because, especially as women’s athletes, our bodies, our image is a business. We’ve had to get accustomed to the business life. We make most of our money off the court, so business is our life,” Collier said.
“We’ve looked through all the numbers, we’ve been able to see where the money’s going. Especially through Unrivaled, I understand how money should be spent, how much things cost,” Collier added. “So I think that’s been a really good asset for us.”
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Reeve and Lynx teammates praise Collier for her easygoing nature and willingness to take feedback from anyone. But that does not make her a pushover. She is smart, she is savvy and she will stand her ground when it’s warranted.
“It takes a lot to put yourself in that space. It really takes a lot. And so I’m proud of her,” Reeve said.
The most impactful players are those who rise to the occasion, whenever and wherever it comes. This is Collier’s moment, and she’s proven she is more than ready for it.
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Napheesa Collier puts WNBA on notice, on and off the court
