Napheesa Collier’s skills have been fully showcased and acknowledged. After guiding Team USA to a gold medal in Paris, finishing as the runner-up to Las Vegas’s A’ja Wilson for the league MVP award, and winning Defensive Player of the Year, the basketball community now recognizes her by her nickname, Phee.
MVP of Unrivaled
Collier has been named the first MVP of Unrivaled, as announced by the league on Sunday before the semifinal game. As a co-founder of the 3-on-3 league, Collier has shown herself to be one of the most dominant players since the league started about two months ago.
Collier A Force To Be Reckoned With
As the playoffs approached, she led the league in scoring with an average of 25.7 points per game and ranked in the top five for rebounding, pulling down 10.6 boards per game. Collier also triumphed in the midseason one-on-one tournament, defeating Aaliyah Edwards to claim the $200,000 prize, half of which she generously donated to her Lunar Owls staff and trainers. Under Collier’s leadership, the Lunar Owls achieved the best record in Unrivaled, finishing 13-1 before the playoffs. Unfortunately, they faced an upset in Sunday’s semifinal against Vinyl despite Collier scoring 36 points. Her performance in Miami continues the impressive momentum from her 2024 WNBA season, where she earned the Defensive Player of the Year title and was the runner-up for league MVP, guiding the Minnesota Lynx to the Finals.
“Just being with this team was a high. Our chemistry was great from the beginning. The way that we approached every day so professional, how locked in we were. It was just a pleasure to be with this team,” Collier said after her Unrivaled season ended.
