The arena buzzed with nervous energy as Napheesa Collier stepped to the free-throw line with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter. One shot. That’s all she needed to etch her name permanently in the history books. When the ball slipped through the net, the roar wasn’t just for the 42 points lighting up the scoreboard—it was for a seismic shift in women’s basketball. In that moment, Collier didn’t just tie Breanna Stewart and Angel McCoughtry’s WNBA playoff scoring record. She announced a new era of dominance .
Collier’s 2024 playoff run wasn’t just impressive. It was a masterclass in athletic virtuosity—a 12-game symphony where she rewrote the league’s record books while carrying the Minnesota Lynx to the brink of a championship. Imagine a player so versatile she simultaneously led all postseason competitors in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. No one had ever done it. Not Stewart. Not Wilson. Not Moore. Until Collier .
The Statistical Avalanche: Records Shattered and Legacies Forged
Let’s start with the numbers because they defy belief. Collier’s 285 total points stand as the highest scoring tally in a single WNBA postseason. To grasp the magnitude, consider this: she averaged 23.8 points per game while playing suffocating defense for nearly 39 minutes nightly. But it was her volcanic eruption against Phoenix that left analysts speechless—a 42-point detonation where she sank 14-of-20 shots and 12-of-14 free throws .
Even more staggering? She didn’t just break records—she obliterated sequences. Her 80 points over Games 1 and 2 against the Mercury set a new two-game playoff benchmark. Think about that. Eighty points in 72 hours against a team featuring Brittney Griner and Diana Taurasi. And when she dropped 38 points in the series opener, she became the first player ever with consecutive 38+ point playoff games .
But Collier’s impact wasn’t confined to scoring. She controlled the game’s geometry:
- Rebounding: Pulling down 8.9 boards per game, including a critical 13-rebound performance in Game 4 against Connecticut
- Defensive Terror: Averaging 1.9 steals and 1.4 blocks, culminating in a Finals-record 17 total steals against New York
- Clutch Gene: Shooting 49% from the field and 80% from the line despite constant double-teams
The Engine of Resilience: Leadership Beyond the Box Score
Statistics can’t capture Collier’s true superpower: making everyone around her exponentially better. When the Lynx lost the 2024 Finals in a heart-stopping Game 5 overtime, Collier didn’t hang her head. She spent the offseason co-founding Unrivaled—a groundbreaking 3×3 league giving WNBA stars offseason income without overseas travel—and won its MVP and 1-on-1 tournament . That competitive fire spilled into 2025. League GMs voted her the MVP favorite (67% of votes) and her Lynx the title favorites (60%). Even Cheryl Reeve, her coach, was deemed the league’s best (83%) .
You saw this resilience in microcosm on May 31, 2025. With Collier sidelined by knee soreness, the Lynx trailed Phoenix late. But her ethos remained. Courtney Williams, ice in her veins, nailed a game-tying three after starting 0-for-6. Then Kayla McBride’s steal and Natisha Hiedeman’s corner three sealed the win. “We didn’t have our best player,” McBride said, “so things were funky. We just kept plugging away. That’s what good teams do” . That’s Collier’s culture.
The Ripple Effect: How One Run Transformed a League
Collier’s historic run did more than fill trophy cases—it shifted the WNBA’s gravitational pull. When TIME named her one of the 100 Most Influential People of 2025, soccer legend Alex Morgan captured why: “Phee stuck her neck out to give players a chance to make money in the U.S. offseason without moving families across the world. Unrivaled will go down as a pivotal moment for women’s sports” .
On the court, her two-way dominance sparked tactical revolutions. Coaches now hunt “positionless” players who guard all five spots and create their own shot—a prototype Collier embodies. Off the court, she’s redefined athlete agency. While rivals chase superteams, she’s proving a single superstar with grit and vision can elevate a franchise. The Lynx weren’t preseason favorites in 2024. But Collier’s leadership forged a “better chemistry” than the Liberty’s superteam, as analysts noted .
The Unfinished Masterpiece: What’s Next for Phee?
Collier’s 2024 playoff run ended in agony—a 67–62 Game 5 Finals loss where she posted 22 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 blocks. Yet that heartbreak fuels her. As one writer observed: “If you were scared of Collier last year, you should be terrified now. She realizes her power . . . and is coming for revenge” .
Early 2025 hints at evolution. She opened the season with 34, 23, and 28-point games, leading the league in scoring (28.3 PPG). Her free-throw streak (21-for-21) showcased refined precision. But more telling? Her playmaking. With defenses collapsing on her, she’s averaging 3.0 assists—creating for Smith, McBride, and Williams .
So what does this mean for women’s basketball? Collier represents a new paradigm: the complete player. Not just a scorer. Not just a defender. A strategist who reads doubles before they arrive. A leader who empowers role players. A pioneer who builds leagues between playoff runs. As UConn’s official account declared: “Appreciate what Collier just did! It will not happen again . . . for a long time, if ever” .
The Final Buzzer
Napheesa Collier’s 2024 playoff run wasn’t a hot streak. It was a manifesto. By dominating every statistical category while dragging Minnesota to the Finals, she proved single-star teams can thrive in a superteam era. By founding Unrivaled days after losing Game 5, she showed athletes can control their destinies. And by opening 2025 as the MVP frontrunner, she signaled this is just Act I.
Her legacy crystallizes in one astonishing fact: she’s the only player in WNBA history to lead a postseason in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks. That’s not a fluke—it’s a revolution. And every young player scribbling “Phee” on their sneakers isn’t just dreaming of stats. They’re dreaming of rewriting the game itself .
