Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier will make her season debut Wednesday against the Seattle Storm, coach Cheryl Reeve verified during her pre-game press conference. Tip-off for the camp day game in Seattle is set for 3 p.m. ET and will be shown on WNBA League Pass. Collier, who underwent surgery on both ankles this offseason, will be on a minutes restriction, and expectations for her debut should be “tempered,” Reeve reported. “This is not a full tilt… we still have a couple more steps to go before we see the Phee we know her to be.”
the Queen returns.
👑 » https://t.co/E4kVdxRGC7 pic.twitter.com/yLdIUrRn8U
— Minnesota Lynx (@minnesotalynx) July 22, 2026
Collier averaged a career-high 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game last season on 53.1% shooting, including 40.3% from 3-point range. She was the MVP favorite until she missed over three weeks with an ankle injury in early August, and wound up as the runner-up to A’ja Wilson for the second season in a row. She was also named to the All-WNBA and All-Defensive First Teams.
Although she joked last week about “fighting” with doctors every day to get back on the court, Collier reported she has learned to embrace the process of recovery.
“I would say just embrace. One, I think everything happens for a reason,” she reported on Saturday. “And so whatever it is, this is the journey of my life. I can’t control that I was injured, but I can control my mindset now,” Collier reported. “If I’m crushing my rehab and doing everything I can to get back, if I’m being a good teammate, supporting my team while I’m out, making the most of it.
“There’s going to be things in life that happen that you can’t control, but you can control your reaction to things and your outlook on it. So I would say just shift inwards instead of outwards to the things that happen.”
This is a particularly interesting game for Collier to make her return since it will be the last one before the All-Star break happening from July 23-27. There is also the fact that when the two teams met on Monday, the Lynx barely survived with a 105-102 victory against a very persistent Seattle roster. Wednesday’s matchup is set for 3 p.m. ET and will be available on WNBA League Pass.
How have the Lynx fared without Collier?
Surprisingly well. The Lynx are at the top of the league standings with a 21-6 overall record even without Collier playing a single game yet. They enter Wednesday’s game on a six-game winning streak.
A huge part of this success has been the addition of Olivia Miles, who has so far been the most impressive rookie of the class of 2026. Miles is averaging 19.6 points per game on 50.1% shooting, along with 4.8 rebounds, 6 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Coach Cheryl Reeve has talked about how Miles finally gave the roster a true point guard. The former TCU and Notre Dame star can certainly score, but her elite passing and playmaking abilities should pair nicely with Collier’s skills.
Minnesota has won four WNBA championships, with their most recent one happening in 2017. Collier did not join the Lynx until 2019, so the Lynx are still looking for their first title in the Collier era. They got close in 2024 when they made it all the way to the Finals, but they fell short against the New York Liberty. Last season they went into the postseason as the No. 1 seed, but fell in the semifinals to the Mercury. Collier was injured in the Lynx’s penultimate game of the season after a collision with the Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas and was sidelined for the deciding Game 4 and the entire season of Unrivaled, the winter 3-on-3 league that Collier co-founded with Breanna Stewart.
Collier — a former UConn star and the 2019 Rookie of the Year — is still waiting for her first WNBA title, and ironically it could happen the year in which she is recovering from significant injuries. Earlier this month, the Lynx were one of the teams chosen as a favorite to win the 2026 WNBA championship.
