Lynx All-Star Napheesa Collier dominating one basketball league, starting another

We're all busy. Some of us, in the last year, have devised a foolproof system for remembering 60% of our passwords and learned to work an air fryer.

Napheesa Collier is making progress, too. In the last 14 months, she has delivered a baby, returned to the WNBA as a new mother, started a new women's basketball league, flourished without the presence of the great Sylvia Fowles, been named as the Lynx's sole captain, helped her team salvage its season, become a polished team spokesperson and transformed herself from a very good player into a budding superstar.

Even before this season began, Collier's resumé was as stuffed as a Juicy Lucy. She was an All-Star, Olympian, mother, podcaster and default face of a franchise.

Then the season began and the Lynx lost their first six games. They looked not only lost, but like they were trying to lose to improve the chances of drafting a superstar like Caitlin Clark. Now, instead of Collapsing for Caitlin, the Lynx are Climbing with Collier.

Once a top-20 player in the WNBA, Collier is vying for a place in the top five, up there with the other superstars.

For Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve, this is like opening a Swiss army knife and finding it contained a fork, a screwdriver and a Hope Diamond.

"We had a conversation before the season, just letting me know that, you know, as a sole captain, she's just telling me all that comes with that and that I need to take more responsibility,'' Collier said of Reeve. "That I need to be getting up more shots than I have in the past.''

Collier was always capable of stuffing a boxscore. Now she's filling the basket, too.

She has displayed a crossover dribble that turns large defenders into human pretzels. She has forced her way through double-teams. She has improved her three-point shot, scored in the clutch and homed a fadeaway jumper that is impossible to block.

Playing alongside Fowles, Collier seemed comfortable as a second option. Without Fowles, Collier no longer seems comfortable with perceived limitations.

"She's worked so hard in the offseason, she's improved so much,'' Reeve said. "So now, go use it. Go take chances. That's what you get to do when you're the team's best player.''

On June 27 against Seattle, Collier produced 33 points and 10 rebounds with a 24-point second half that led the Lynx to a victory. It was the most points scored by a Lynx player in a half since Fowles scored 26 in a game in 2017.

This season she became the second player in franchise history to score 30 points in consecutive games, along with Maya Moore.

Collier was named WNBA player of the week for June 26 to July 2 after leading the Lynx to three wins while averaging 26.7 points, nine rebounds and three assists.

Collier ranks third in the league in scoring, 11th in rebounding, fourth in steals and 10th in blocks, and she has always been an excellent defender.

"She's just been so aggressive,'' said Lynx guard Rachel Banham. "She's always been coachable, but now, when you tell her 'You've got to go get a bucket,' she's really good about going out and doing that.''

The best Lynx players used to make most of their money overseas in the offseason, which meant they could show up for the beginning of the WNBA season late, burned out or injured. The league wants its players to stay in country more, but still doesn't pay as much as players are accustomed to making overseas.

So Collier and Liberty star Breanna Stewart are starting their own league for players who don't want to leave the country. "Unrivaled'' will feature 30 top players competing in three-on-three and one-on-one events on a soundstage in Miami.

Collier's growth as a player is mirrored by her growth as a personality. Always polite, she used to reserve her best material for the podcast she once did with Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson. Now she seems remarkably comfortable as the face of the Lynx and driver of a new league.

Meet the new boss. She's different than the old boss.