Hours before Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier made her long-awaited season debut on Wednesday afternoon, coach Cheryl Reeve reported that expectations should be “tempered.” “This is not full tilt,” Reeve continued. “We still have a couple more steps to go before we see the Phee we know her to be.”
Well, if Reeve is right, that’s extremely bad news for the rest of the league.
In her first game since tearing three ligaments in her left ankle and a muscle in her left shin in the Lynx’s loss to the Phoenix Mercury in Game 3 of their semifinal playoff series last September, Collier put up 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead Minnesota to an 86-76 win over the Seattle Storm. Collier, who was on a minutes restriction, needed the fewest minutes — 22 — to record a 24/10 game in WNBA history.
Collier was aggressive early, but got off to a slow start and missed six of her first seven shots. She went 9 of 13 after that, however, and came up with multiple big plays down the stretch. With 1:19 remaining, she got fouled on a 3-pointer and made all three free throws to push the Lynx’s lead up to four, and the next time down the floor she scored inside to effectively seal the win.
the Queen in the clutch. 👑 pic.twitter.com/fEo9g8KO0H
— 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 after undergoing surgery on both ankles this offseason.
“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.”
How have the Lynx fared without Collier?
Surprisingly well. The Lynx entered Wednesday in first place, and have now won seven games in a row to improve to 22-6 — good for a two and a half game lead on both the Las Vegas Aces and Golden State Valkyries. Minnesota has the longest active winning streak in the league and two of the four-longest winning streaks this season. (They also won eight games in a row from May 21 to June 9.)
| Team | Consecutive wins |
|---|---|
|
Valkyries |
9 |
|
Liberty |
8 |
|
Lynx |
8 |
|
Lynx |
7 |
Rookie point guard Olivia Miles, who has so far been the most impressive member of the class of 2026, has been the driving force of their pre-Collier success. Miles entered Wednesday averaging 19.6 points per game on 50.1% shooting, along with 4.8 rebounds, six assists and 1.3 steals. Reeve has talked about how Miles’ arrival finally gave the roster a true point guard. The former TCU and Notre Dame star can certainly score, but her elite playmaking abilities should pair nicely with Collier.
The Lynx have won four WNBA championships — tied for the most in WNBA history — but none since 2017, two years before they selected Collier with the No. 6 pick in the 2019 WNBA Draft. Since Collier’s emergence as an MVP candidate, the Lynx have gotten extremely close to another trophy. They were seconds away from winning it all in 2024 before a controversial overtime defeat to the New York Liberty in Game 5 of the Finals, and were the No. 1 seed last season, but bowed out in the semifinals after Collier’s season-ending injury.
Now that Collier is back, this could be the year that the Lynx finally get the job done.
