After a historic season, it is fitting that the race for the 2025 WNBA MVP award is one of the best the league has ever seen.<\/p>\n
While a group of notable players turned in seasons worthy of MVP consideration, Minnesota Lynx<\/a> forward Napheesa Collier, Phoenix Mercury<\/a> forward Alyssa Thomas, and Las Vegas Aces<\/a> forward A’ja Wilson stand out above the rest. And as the season wound down, it was Collier and Wilson who stood out on their own.<\/p>\n Both cases are equally compelling, and poetically, there’s an overlap in the narratives.<\/p>\n Collier entered the 2025 season on a mission after the Lynx came up short in the 2024 WNBA Finals. She put up major numbers before missing three weeks of action with an ankle injury suffered in an early August blowout of Wilson’s Aces. Collier didn’t miss a beat upon her return, and Minnesota finished first in the league with a 34-10 record.<\/p>\n The blowout loss to Minnesota proved to be a turning point for Wilson and Las Vegas, as the team finished the season with 16 straight wins to earn the league’s second-best record at 30-14. Wilson averaged 26.1 points and 12.0 rebounds during the streak, firmly placing herself in conversations to win MVP for a second consecutive season.<\/p>\n Now, The Sporting News breaks down the MVP case for each candidate.<\/p>\n MORE:\u00a0Complete list of WNBA award winners in 2025<\/a><\/p>\n A’ja Wilson vs. Napheesa Collier stats<\/p>\n When analyzing stats, it’s important to recognize the breadth of the numbers and the context in which they come.<\/p>\n Wins and losses are the most important numbers, and Collier’s Lynx won 34 games while Wilson’s Aces won 30. Notably, Collier missed 11 games (25.0 percent of the season), though Minnesota was 27-6 in games she appeared in. Wilson missed four games (9.1 percent of the season), and Las Vegas was 29-11 in games she appeared in.<\/p>\n With that in mind, we begin with counting stats and per-game averages.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Per game stats<\/p>\n The per-game numbers help make each player’s MVP case.<\/p>\n Wilson is one of just two players to average a double-double in 2025, and she was the league’s scoring champion for the second straight season. Collier, who finished second in scoring, became just the second player in WNBA history to turn in a 50-40-90 season as she shot 53.1 percent from the field, 40.3 percent from 3-point range, and 90.6 percent from the free throw line.<\/p>\n As it pertains to wins and losses, it should not be overlooked that Las Vegas went 1-3 without Wilson while Minnesota went 7-4 in Collier’s absence.<\/p>\n StatWilsonCollierGames (Record)40 (29-11)33 (27-6)Points23.422.9Rebounds10.27.3Assists3.13.2Steals1.61.6Blocks2.31.5Turnovers2.22.1Minutes31.232.3FG%50.553.13P%42.440.3FT%85.590.6<\/p>\n