Unrivaled co-founder Napheesa Collier voted MVP for the women’s basketball league’s inaugural season

By Canadian Press on March 16, 2025.

MEDLEY, Fla. (AP) — Napheesa Collier of the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx was voted Unrivaled’s Most Valuable Player after a dominant season in the inaugural 3-on-3 women’s basketball league, which she co-founded with fellow WNBA star Breanna Stewart.

Collier accepted the award minutes before Sunday’s Unrivaled playoffs, in which the second-seeded Rose team took on the No. 3 seed Laces in the first of two semifinals. Collier and the top-seeded Lunar Owls were set to face No. 4 Vinyl in the other. The winners will advance to Monday’s final.

Collier, the star forward for the Lynx and reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, led Unrivaled with 25.7 points per game. She also averaged 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 assists for the Lunar Owls, who finished with the best record in the league at 13-1.

Collier scored 38 points on Feb. 8 against the Mist, which tied for the most points scored in an Unrivaled game, and she finished the season with seven double-doubles. She also took home $200,000 last month after winning Unrivaled’s midseason 1-on-1 tournament.

Unrivaled played an eight-week regular season between six teams consisting of some of the biggest names in the WNBA — Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, new Atlanta Dream center Brittney Griner, New York Liberty star Sabrina Ionescu, among others.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball

Alanis Thames, The Associated Press