While the WNBA’s MVP race is a toss-up, one player finalized her season with one heck of a closing statement.
Minnesota Lynx superstar and MVP-hopeful Napheesa Collier joined an exclusive club on the final day of the WNBA season, as she joined Elena Delle Donne as the only players to put up 50-40-90 splits for a full campaign.
Collier, on the outside of the club looking in with a 39.2 three-point percentage coming into Thursday, finished a 72-53 win over the Golden State Valkyries with 19 points, four rebounds and two assists while shooting eight of 10 from the field and three of four from three-point range.
That latter mark is what catapulted her into the history books, as it pushed her season average from deep to 40.3 per cent, and pushed her all-time season into a league of its own.
Asked about the feat after the game, head coach Cheryl Reeve gave a convincing argument in favour of her superstar in the MVP race.
“It’s only been done once before that that player was the MVP. Phee deserves that recognition,” Reeve said to ESPN’s Kendra Andrews. “The numbers don’t lie … I don’t know long it will be before it happens again.”
As a whole, Collier ended the 2025 season averaging 22.8 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks, while shooting 53.1 per cent from the field and 90.6 per cent from the charity stripe — a career-high.
The forward was also a driving force behind the Lynx’s WNBA-leading 34-10 record, rebounding well from a finals loss last season to secure the overall top seed heading into the playoffs.
In the league’s 29 seasons, former Washington Mystics superstar and two-time MVP Delle Donne is the only player to hit the historically efficient benchmark. She did so in the 2019 season after putting up 51.5/43.0/97.4 shooting splits.
However, Collier is the first player to reach the mark scoring 20+ points per game, as Delle Donne averaged only 19.2 a night.
Delle Donne not only came away with the MVP that season, but also managed to steer her Mystics to their first and only WNBA Championship.
Collier finished second in MVP voting last season, finishing behind three-time award winner A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces. The race is a toss-up between the two once again, as Wilson has helped her side to a 15-game win streak to end the season — with the potential for 16 if they beat the Los Angeles Sparks later on Thursday — and second-place in the Western Conference.
The Lynx’s win over the Valkyries on Thursday also tied the 2023 Las Vegas Aces for the most victories in a WNBA season (34).
Only nine players in NBA history have entered the 50-40-90 club, with Steve Nash doing so four times over his Hall of Fame career.
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