Collier admitted<\/a>. \u201cI wish I weren\u2019t in this position, but maybe it\u2019s good my body needed this rest. I believe everything happens for a reason. So, maybe I just needed this rest for different parts of my body. And then hopefully I\u2019ll just come back really well rested for the playoffs and we\u2019ll make our push.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\nCollier\u2019s injury came during Minnesota\u2019s historic 53-point win over the Las Vegas Aces on Aug. 2, a night that was supposed to be about dominance, not disappointment. She has now missed seven straight games, but there is hope. The Lynx upgraded her status to probable for the Sunday, Aug. 24 matchup against the Indiana Fever, signaling her return may be close.<\/p>\n
Lynx Stay Strong While Awaiting Collier\u2019s Return<\/p>\n
While losing an MVP candidate could have derailed most teams, the Lynx have stayed strong. Minnesota is 5\u20132 without Collier and has already clinched a playoff berth. That safety net eases some of the pressure on her comeback. Instead of rushing back, she can use the remaining regular-season games to find her rhythm before the postseason push.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Lynx are also chasing history. With eight games left, they need six wins to break the 2023 Las Vegas Aces\u2019 single-season record of 34 victories. Thanks to this year\u2019s expanded schedule, Minnesota has extra opportunities to cement itself as one of the greatest regular-season teams in WNBA history.<\/p>\n
Individually, Collier\u2019s return could define her season as well. She leads the league in scoring with 23.5 points per game, along with 7.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists. Before the injury, she was the clear frontrunner for MVP, but missing time has allowed rivals like A\u2019ja Wilson to close the gap.<\/p>\n
If Collier comes back strong, she not only strengthens Minnesota\u2019s title hopes but also keeps herself firmly in the MVP conversation. After all, this could be the season where she finally claims her first WNBA championship and caps it with the league\u2019s top individual honor.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Napheesa Collier was in the middle of an MVP-caliber season when a sudden ankle injury stopped her momentum…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":106621,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-106620","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106620","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106620"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106620\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/106621"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106620"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106620"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106620"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}