Napheesa Collier earns her third Western Conference Player of the Week honor, following her Player of the Month award.
The WNBA announced Tuesday afternoon that Minnesota Lynx forward, Napheesa Collier, was named the Western Conference Player of the Week.
NEWS: @minnesotalynx Forward Napheesa Collier Named Western Conference Player of the Week
Full release: https://t.co/Vxo0RGr06r
— Lynx PR (@Lynx_PR) September 10, 2024
Not only is this Collier’s third time being honored as the conference’s best player of the week this season, but it comes on the heels of her winning the Western Conference Player of the Month award for August which was announced just a week ago. She has been on an absolute tear and it has shown in the Lynx record. They have gone 9-1 and solidified themselves as the best team in the Western Conference while threatening for the number one overall seed.
A new bombshell has been crowned Winsidr’s top monthly performer.
Napheesa Collier is the Winsidr August Player of the Month
Through August, Napheesa…
Averaged 22.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game
Claimed three double doubles
Snagged 18 rebounds… pic.twitter.com/rgBLpHsYnn— Winsidr (@Winsidr) September 3, 2024
Collier averaged 22.4 points, 9.1 rebounds, and 3.9 assists in seven games for the shortened month of August. Her September performances haven’t disappointed either, as she is currently putting up 20.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 1.3 assists in three games. She is peaking at the right time with just five games left in the regular season before the postseason begins.
To provide some perspective, here is a look at her accolades this season:
- WC Player of the Week (June 26-July 2)
- WNBA All-Star
- Olympic Gold Medal
- WC Player of the Week (August 15-25)
- WC Player of the Month (August)
- WC Player of the Week (September 2-6)
The way things are going, it would be easy to imagine even more of these awards piling up. There has been a lot of national buzz regarding Collier’s opportunity to win Defensive Player of the Year and challenge for Most Valuable Player. ESPN’s Alexa Phillippou shared her thoughts:
If Collier doesn’t get MVP, winning Defensive Player of the Year wouldn’t be a bad consolation. A two-time all-defensive second team selection, Collier is averaging 9.7 defensive boards, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game this summer as the anchor of one of the league’s elite defensive units. According to Second Spectrum, Collier holds opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 39.94% as their closest defender, the best rate for any player in the league (minimum 100 shot attempts).
Surely, this would indicate another All-WNBA Team and All-Defensive selection are on the horizon. Those two awards would be great individual accomplishments for the young 27-year-old to add her to already overflowing trophy case, but adding championship banner number five to Target Center’s rafters would be her top priority.