The WNBA MVP race has two strong contenders: Minnesota Lynx icon Napheesa Collier, and Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson.
Both have had outstanding individual seasons, but at the beginning, the story was very different.
Wilson vs. Collier
Prior to the Aug. 2 game where the Lynx beat the Aces by 58 points, Las Vegas was a .500 team by any standards.
However, that same day Napheesa suffered an unfortunate ankle injury that forced her to miss seven games with the Lynx. Meanwhile, Wilson and the Aces never went down again after that crushing defeat.
Minnesota, meanwhile, was able to pull through and maintain its level without Collier, making its way to the Playoffs as the best team in the WNBA standings, occupying first place with a 33-9 record.
Las Vegas has already accumulated 14 consecutive wins and part of the responsibility for this is A’ja’s 22.8 points, 10.1 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals, making her a key piece of the team.
And this is proven by an incredible statistic: when Wilson is on the court, the Aces outscore their opponents by 28.6 points per 100 possessions. Meanwhile, when A’ja is not present, the offense falters and plummets from 111.8 points to 92.6 per 100 possessions, according to Basketball Reference data.
On the other hand, the Lynx can outscore opponents by 10.3 points per 100 possessions when Napheesa is on the court compared to when he is not.
However, Collier out-scores A’ja, averaging 23.0 points, 7.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.6 steals and managed to total 15 games with at least 25 points just like Wilson, but having played seven fewer games.
Undoubtedly, either of the two candidates can win, so it will be interesting to see how this story develops for the WNBA MVP.
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