Lynx's Napheesa Collier responded to WNBA MVP 'snub' the only way she knew how

Jeremy Beren

•
Lynx's Napheesa Collier responded to WNBA MVP 'snub' the only way she knew how image

Jesse Johnson-Imagn Images

Despite entering the hallowed ground that is the 50/40/90 club, and despite leading the Minnesota Lynx to the WNBA's best record, Napheesa Collier still did not do enough to win her first MVP award.

It was revealed Sunday that Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson won WNBA MVP with 51 out of a possible 72 first-place votes; Collier received 18 first-place votes. It was a wider margin than expected, especially as Collier was regarded as the favorite until an ankle injury on Aug. 2 kept her out of action for three weeks.

MORE: A'ja Wilson named WNBA MVP for an unprecedented fourth time — but it wasn't a unanimous vote

Collier though didn't seem too aggrieved by the voters' decision to hand Wilson her fourth MVP award -- a WNBA record -- while the Lynx forward still waits for her first. Collier, a five-time All-Star and the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year, prefers to let her game do the talking.

And talk it did on Sunday, when the top-seeded Lynx rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat the fourth-seeded Phoenix Mercury in Game 1 of their WNBA semifinals matchup.

After scoring 18 points and hauling in nine rebounds in the 82-69 victory at Minneapolis' Target Center, Collier brushed aside her "personal goals" and put herself at the service of the team -- which is now two wins from a second successive appearance in the WNBA Finals.

"Right now, we're focused on a championship," Collier told the media Sunday. "It was easy not to think about (the MVP voting)."

Collier knows winning a WNBA title -- Minnesota's first in eight years -- would be the best revenge against those who had her second in MVP voting. She can help the Lynx get closer with another win in Game 2 against the Mercury, which tips off at Target Center on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

MORE WNBA NEWS:

Jeremy Beren

Jeremy Beren is a freelance WNBA writer with The Sporting News. A Phoenix native, he is a graduate of Arizona State University's Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication, and he has a decade’s worth of sports journalism experience. Jeremy's work has appeared in publications such as Marca, SB Nation, Athlon Sports and Vice Sports. He currently lives in Fayetteville, Arkansas.