Olivia Miles, the rookie point guard for the Minnesota Lynx, wears a pair of bug-eyed sports goggles, black and bulbous, sometimes held in place by a thick strap that runs through her luxuriant Afro. They\u2019re nobody\u2019s idea of cool but hers, which has made them the coolest thing in the W.N.B.A. right now. She wears them for the usual reasons\u2014she got her first prescription as a young child\u2014but also because they suit her. They tell a story, not only about a young person who does things her own way, irrespective of what\u2019s expected, but also about her singular court vision.<\/p>\n
Lynx fans have taken to calling her the Spectacle, which is the perfect nickname for her. She has retro playground tricks and a modern unicorn\u2019s hyperefficiency\u2014an ability to create a good shot, whether for herself or for a teammate, from beyond the three-point arc or in the paint, anywhere on the floor. When you watch her, that\u2019s what stands out: the uncanny anticipation, the in-stride no-look passes, the pick-and-rolls that make defenses reel, the quick shivers that shake defenders to make space for a three-pointer, the drives past astonished bigs in the paint\u2014ending with a basket that looks less like a traditional layup than a ballerina\u2019s jet\u00e9.<\/p>\n
She\u2019s big for a traditional point guard\u2014five feet ten\u2014and is a dynamic athlete, a former star soccer player in high school. She has one of the best handles in basketball. But her game is built around her eyes. She uses them to guide her teammates into space, to misdirect defenders, to drag her opponents into screens. Miles sells glasses, literally\u2014she has an endorsement deal with GlassesUSA\u2014but she also sells the idea of glasses. Her goggles clarify her game. They make it easy to see.<\/p>\n