Napheesa Collier, Breanna Stewart, Caitlin Clark, A’ja Wilson and Alyssa Thomas are first-team All-WNBA

Lynx forward Napheesa Collier was named to the All-WNBA first team for the second consecutive season.

The league’s Defensive Player of the Year, Collier averaged 20.4 points, 9.7 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.9 steals per game. She was runner-up for the league’s MVP award to Las Vegas’ A’ja Wilson.

Wilson and Collier were unanimous All-WNBA selections and are joined on the first team by New York’s Breanna Stewart, Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Connecticut’s Alyssa Thomas.

The announcement of the all-league team was made Wednesday before Game 3 of the WNBA Finals at Target Center between the Lynx and the Liberty.

The All-WNBA second team is New York’s Sabrina Ionescu and Jonquel Jones, Phoenix’s Kahleah Copper, Seattle’s Nneka Ogwumike and Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale.

Collier made the All-WNBA second team in 2020, a year after she was the league’s rookie of the year. Three other Lynx players — Maya Moore, Lindsay Whalen and Katie Smith — have been all-league at least twice. Collier is a four-time All-Star and a two-time Olympic gold medalist, including this year at the Paris Games.

Stewart, a two-time MVP with Seattle, is on her seventh all-league team. Thomas was chosen for the third time. Clark is the first rookie since Candace Parker in 2008 to be on the first team, and the fifth rookie overall.

It’s also the seventh All-WNBA selection for Ogwumike. Jones is on for the fifth time, and Ionescu and Ogunbowale each for the third time.

Wilson earned her third MVP award after averaging a league-record 26.9 points and leading the WNBA with 2.58 blocks per game. Stewart averaged 20.4 points and was on the All-Defensive first team as well.

Clark was the league’s Rookie of the Year, leading the league with 8.4 assists per game. She also led the league in three-pointers. Thomas was second in the league in assists and ninth in rebounds.

The Lynx have done this before.

There were crowds in the 18,000 range when the Lynx were playing Los Angeles in back-to-back WNBA Finals in 2016 and 2017.

But it felt a little different this time.

The Lynx announced a crowd of 19,521 for Wednesday’s Game 3 of the Finals against New York at Target Center.

It is a franchise record.

Earlier this season, the Lynx announced 19,023 on the night Moore (who wore No. 23) had her jersey retired and the team hosted Clark and the Indiana Fever. But it’s more than that. There are signs around town, a lot of them. There is a buzz, Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said, that’s a little different from 2017, the last time the Lynx hosted a Finals game.

“Is it exciting?” Reeve said. “Yes. I’m glad I’m still coaching during this. Because it’s what we’ve always believed in, I’ve always believed.”

This momentum has been building. Reeve points to the rivalry with Los Angeles as a moment when interest in the league surged. Then there was a watershed moment of an exciting rookie class led by Clark and Angel Reese. Viewership is up. Franchise values are up.

Reeve is most happy for the Minnesota fans.

“I think about how that went from watching dynasty basketball to the years subsequent to that, and how our fans stood by us,” Reeve said, “and have continued to make this a great place.”