MINNESOTA — When a video started circulating on social media last week that showed Lynx forward Napheesa Collier using sign language to talk with a Minnesota fan, the reaction was swift.
Is there anything this 28-year-old woman can’t do?
As if the résumé of a two-time Olympic gold medalist, four-time All-Star, business co-founder and working mom wasn’t impressive enough, it turns out Collier is also conversational in American Sign Language (ASL), which she took in college to fulfill her foreign language credit.
On the court, should her team need a timely basket in the paint, a crucial 3-pointer, a steal they can convert to a layup or a thunderous block that sends the bench to its feet, Collier is probably the one doing it — or rather, the one doing all of it.
In a league dominated by power forwards — think New York’s Breanna Stewart, Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson, Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas — Collier somehow manages to fly under the radar.
“When I hear people say, ‘She’s a really good player but she’s not quite there,’ I don’t know what people are looking at,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said, praising Collier’s ability to impact every possession at both ends of the floor.
That anyone would think of Collier as “less than” is especially puzzling when you consider her 2024 season.
Collier averaged 20.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals, all career highs except for points (she scored 21.5 in 2023). If not for Wilson’s otherworldly season, Collier almost certainly would have won league MVP. She finished second behind Wilson, earning 66 of a possible 67 second-place votes. She also won Defensive Player of the Year honors, an award many thought would go to Wilson.
And in case there was any doubt about Collier deserving that trophy, she put on a defensive showcase in Minnesota’s 18-point comeback win in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals in New York, blocking six shots (tying a career high) and grabbing three steals. She also scored 21 points and snagged eight rebounds in the 95-93 overtime win.
Game 3 is Wednesday at the Target Center with the best-of-five series even at 1-1. The Lynx are looking for their fifth title in franchise history, which would be a WNBA record. The Liberty are looking for their first. Reeve led Minnesota to WNBA championships in 2011, 2013, 2015 and 2017, but no player on the current roster was part of those.
Collier could help Minnesota start another championship run.
From sixth pick to ‘superstar’
Being underappreciated has been a theme of Collier’s career. A 2019 UConn grad, she finished college ranked No. 3 all-time in Husky scoring, No. 4 in rebounding and No. 7 in blocked shots. Yet she dropped all the way to No. 6 in the WNBA draft, falling behind players like Louisville’s Asia Durr, who went No. 2 (and has only played four seasons), and UConn teammate Katie Lou Samuelson, who went No. 4 (and played 18 minutes a game this season for the Indiana Fever).
Collier hasn’t said directly that she’s fueled by being overlooked. But certainly others haven’t forgotten it.
“What a superstar, eh? So impressed,” New York coach Sandy Brondello said before Game 2 in New York. “I think there’s a lot of teams out there kicking themselves they didn’t pick her a little earlier.”
“She’s not too fast, not too slow, but she scores fast. In the big moments, her ability to play 1-on-1, her poise, the spin work, the footwork, the touch, she’s developed that 3-point range,” Brondello continued. “She’s a great defender, obviously … they play in a way that she doesn’t need to have all the touches but she just keeps moving and she’s in great, great shape — that’s her edge, and how she can be so effective.”
Collier laughed when asked about her stamina, admitting that she naturally gets into shape quickly most seasons (she credited a decade of playing soccer in helping her be able to run nonstop.) Though she was also quick to note that after giving birth to daughter Mila in May of 2022, she was starting from scratch. She returned to the court just 74 days after Mila was born, playing in four games that season. Mila, 2, is a fixture at Lynx practices and games, often sporting a mini No. 24 Collier jersey.
Collier’s play has been particularly impressive to teammate Kayla McBride, who said Collier’s ability to combine “her tenacity with so much grace” puts Collier in rarefied air.
“She’s taken that next step to really become a superstar at her position, probably the best position in our league … that position in our league is so important for the great teams,” McBride said, adding that Collier understood she’d have to “take it to that next level” and has done so seamlessly.
‘Trying to complete my game’
Perhaps the most impressive part of Collier’s game has been her evolution from paint player to someone who can float to the perimeter to attack the rim or shoot from distance consistently. Consider that in 2019, her rookie year, Collier hit just 31% of her attempts between 10-16 feet; this season she hit 48.3% of those shots, according to Basketball-Reference.com. In 2019 she shot 35.1% between 16 feet and the 3-point line (22 feet, 1¾ inches). This season she connected on 55.2% of those looks.
Collier said she’s not necessarily trying to be a big guard, even as the WNBA becomes more positionless like the NBA. Her focus is more about “filling holes in my game.” In the offseason she’s trained by her husband Alex Bazzell, a former pro player who works with numerous NBA and WNBA stars including Kyrie Irving and Trae Young.
“I don’t want to have any weaknesses, so naturally (I’ve been) picking up more guard skills,” Collier said. “Getting better at ball handling, being able to attack from the perimeter, things like that that naturally are more guard-like, I want to get better at those skills. I wasn’t trying to turn into a guard, I’m just trying to complete my game.”
This coming offseason, Collier plans to balance individual workouts with playing in Unrivaled, the 3-on-3 league set to debut in January 2025. Collier co-founded the league with Stewart.
When she does get in the gym with her husband, Collier wants to work more on “taking 3s on the move”; hers are mostly stationary right now.
As for the ability to draw a defender out to the perimeter, have her teammates clear out and then attack the basket one-on-one — the ultimate guard skill — Collier said she could absolutely do it right now, a claim that made McBride burst out laughing.
“I mean, I’ll get out of the way,” McBride said. “Sometimes I’m just watching in amazement anyway.”