Napheesa Collier had the WNBA MVP award all but wrapped up on Aug. 1.
Then the Minnesota Lynx star injured her ankle during the 53-point rout of the Las Vegas Aces on Aug. 2.
That opened the door for A’ja Wilson, and her Aces haven’t lost since being annihilated by the Lynx. Count them up — 12 straight wins with Wilson leading the way.
The Collier injury also increased the odds of Alyssa Thomas of the Phoenix Mercury claiming the hardware. Thomas has a record seven triple-doubles this season, breaking her own mark from 2023 with the Connecticut Sun.
Three worthy players with 14 days of play remaining.
Perhaps the right answer is the hotter player down the stretch between Collier and Wilson will win the award.
Collier was the clear leader before missing seven games with her injury.
She scored 32 points in her return in a victory over the Indiana Fever on Sunday. That quickly reminded everyone why she was atop the list most of the season.
But the second game back wasn’t so pretty. Collier struggled and the Lynx blew a 21-point lead in Thursday night’s 93-79 loss to the visiting Seattle Storm. Minnesota was outscored 60-33 in the second half.
Collier had 18 points but was a dismal 7 of 23 from the floor and missed all five of her 3-point attempts.
Minnesota holds a league-best 30-8 record, and protecting that mark would help Collier’s cause. She is averaging a career-high 23.6 points while collecting 7.6 rebounds per game. She has knocked down a career-best 37 3-pointers.
Collier finished second in the balloting last season when she received 66 of the 67 second-place votes.
That’s all she could shoot for last season with Wilson unanimously winning her third MVP award. Wilson was the first player to score 1,000 points in a WNBA season and was clearly the best player from start to finish.
And now Wilson is in prime form as the stretch drive commences.
She has scored 30 or more points in six of the past nine games and had a 37-point, 20-rebound outing versus Connecticut on Aug. 10.
Wilson is averaging 23.4 points, 10.1 rebounds, 2.2 blocked shots and 1.6 steals this season. Her performance has helped the Aces (26-14) overcome a poor start to the season to become a team nobody will want to draw in the postseason.
The Aces own the second-best record in the league and get another chance at Minnesota on Sept. 4 in Las Vegas. The Lynx won the first three meetings by an average of 32.7 points, including that 111-58 road victory at the beginning of this month.
Thomas has been sensational this month with six triple-doubles to earn billing in the top flight of candidates. She had 31 assists over a two-game stretch before finishing with just six in Thursday’s 83-79 win over the Chicago Sky.
Thomas also had 15 points and nine rebounds against the Sky, so she was never in triple-double territory. But there is no passer in the WNBA with better anticipation than Thomas.
She has helped the revamped Mercury (23-14) to a current fourth-place standing. Thomas is averaging 16.8 points, 9.8 rebounds and a league-best 9.2 assists.
Thomas isn’t an elite scorer, so that could hurt in a battle with Collier (the league’s leading scorer) and Wilson (who stands No. 2). But her game has never been about scoring. She’s out to make her teammates better every time the ball is in her hands.
So the winner will be determined in the next two weeks. Collier has that midseason favorite label in her court, while Wilson is making a hard dash at a fourth MVP award.
It’s too close to call and promises to be a race to watch in the final days of the campaign.