{"id":111415,"date":"2025-08-26T14:09:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:09:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/111415\/"},"modified":"2025-08-26T14:09:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T14:09:09","slug":"wnba-power-rankings-aja-wilson-napheesa-collier-and-a-tightening-mvp-race","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/111415\/","title":{"rendered":"WNBA Power Rankings: A&#8217;ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier and a tightening MVP race"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao MvWXB TjIXL aGjvy ebVHC \"><br class=\" \"\/><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/team\/_\/name\/min\/minnesota-lynx\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Minnesota Lynx<\/a> forward <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/player\/_\/id\/3917450\/napheesa-collier\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Napheesa Collier<\/a> has had a solid grip on the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/story\/_\/id\/45473671\/wnba-2025-awards-mvp-rookie-year-coach-dpoy-most-improved-sixth-woman#MVPAWARD\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">WNBA&#8217;s MVP award<\/a> for much of the season,but we should have known this race wouldn&#8217;t remain that simple.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">After missing seven games with an ankle injury, Collier is still going strong, scoring <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/story\/_\/id\/46066637\/napheesa-collier-ankle-back-lynx-7-game-absence\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">32 points in her return<\/a> on Sunday. But <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/player\/_\/id\/3149391\/aja-wilson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">A&#8217;ja Wilson<\/a>has made a big push over the past month to win an unprecedented fourth MVP honor as the driving force behind the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/team\/_\/name\/lv\/las-vegas-aces\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Las Vegas Aces<\/a>&#8216; 11-game winning streak. Collier (23.9 points per game) and Wilson (23.2) are Nos. 1 and 2 in the league in scoring, with Wilson second in rebounding (10.2) and Collier 10th (7.6) &#8230; and still, the two are not alone at the top.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \"><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/player\/_\/id\/2529140\/alyssa-thomas\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Alyssa Thomas<\/a>, who recorded her sixth triple-double of the season and 17th of her career on Friday, is also an excellent candidate as the league&#8217;s current assist leader (9.2) in her first season with the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/team\/_\/name\/phx\/phoenix-mercury\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Phoenix Mercury<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">We experienced this type of MVP scenario as recently as 2023, when Wilson, Thomas and<a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/player\/_\/id\/2998928\/breanna-stewart\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Breanna Stewart<\/a>finished a close 1-2-3. That year, Thomas &#8212; then with the <a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA WCDhQ DbOXS tqUtK GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/team\/_\/name\/con\/connecticut-sun\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Connecticut Sun<\/a> &#8212; got the most first-place votes, but Stewart won with the most overall points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">With 17 days left in the regular season, Collier, Wilson and Thomas are essentially locks for the all-WNBA first team, and will continue to make their cases for MVP. It should get particularly interesting on Sept. 4, when Wilson and the Aces host Collier and the Lynx.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR zFTjo hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756217348_138_greyline.png\"\/><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR zFTjo hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/1756217348_956_min.png&#038;h=60&#038;w=60.png\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"EkqkG IGXmU nlgHS yuUao lqtkC TjIXL aGjvy \">Previous ranking:1<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"zZygg UbGlr iFzkS qdXbA hsDdd DbOXS oklLN GpWVU iJYzE \" data-testid=\"prism-linkbase\" href=\"https:\/\/www.espn.com\/wnba\/team\/_\/name\/lv\/las-vegas-aces\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"hsDdd NDJZt sJeUN IJwXl vBqtr KrDt itslR WAUrb hakZw HlUVI \" data-testid=\"prism-image\" draggable=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sw_ye_40.png\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 2025 ESPN Internet Ventures. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier has had a solid grip on the WNBA&#8217;s MVP award for much of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":111416,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[72928,3444,438,4384,15231,2834,352,4804,2839,4677,2849,3029,1077,436,5551,4676,99,8253,434,72927],"class_list":["post-111415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-72928","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-chicago-sky","tag-connecticut-sun","tag-daily","tag-dallas-wings","tag-espn","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-indiana-fever","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-list","tag-los-angeles-sparks","tag-minnesota-lynx","tag-new-york-liberty","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-seattle-storm","tag-sports","tag-washington-mystics","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-power-rankings"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111415","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=111415"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111415\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}