Napheesa Collier out at least two weeks in Lynx injury blow
Napheesa Collier will miss at least two weeks due to a right ankle sprain she suffered on Saturday during a game against the Las Vegas Aces, ESPN's Kendra Andrews reported.
The Lynx have a league-best 24-5 record and are now entering a crucial stretch of the season without the reigning WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and MVP favorite.
Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx is escorted off of the floor after she was hurt on a play against the Las Vegas Aces in the third quarter of their game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on August 02, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Lynx defeated the Aces 111-58.
Getty Images
Collier will be re-evaluated in two weeks, which would put that around Aug. 18, according to Andrews, ruling her out for at least four games, which includes two against the defending champion Liberty.
She suffered the injury during the third quarter on Saturday night with the Lynx leading by more than 40 points.
Collier was going up for an offensive rebound when she rolled her ankle and then struggled to walk off the court toward the team locker room and needed help from the team training staff.
Collier has been on a tear this season, earning Western Conference Player of the Month for a third consecutive month on Monday.
She's averaging 23.5 points per game this season and her 7.5 rebounds are ninth in the WNBA and her 1.6 steals and blocks are both fourth in the league.
While Collier avoided a serious injury, the injury and absence come at a time when things really start to ratchet up in the WNBA.
Napheesa Collier #24 of the Minnesota Lynx is escorted off of the floor after she was hurt on a play against the Las Vegas Aces in the third quarter of their game at Michelob ULTRA Arena on August 02, 2025 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Lynx defeated the Aces 111-58.
Getty Images
The regular season comes to an end on Sept. 11 and the Lynx are hoping to hold onto the best mark in the league and the No. 1 seed in the playoffs.
It could jeopardize Collier's MVP push as well, with her missing several high-profile games due to the injury.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
4 hours ago
- USA Today
Where HoopsHype ranked Luka Doncic among the NBA's best point guards
Many people have considered Luka Doncic one of the three to five best players in the NBA over the last few years. It's no wonder why, as he has career averages of 28.6 points, 8.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists a game and possesses the third-highest regular-season scoring average and second-best playoff scoring average in league history. Now that he has transformed his body this summer, his best basketball could be ahead of him, and that is a scary proposition for every NBA team not named the Los Angeles Lakers. But in HoopsHype's latest ranking of the league's top point guards, Doncic came in second behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander of the Oklahoma City Thunder. "Following the disrespect of shockingly being traded by Dallas, the franchise that Doncic expected to spend his entire career with, it seems the Slovenian superstar has taken that to heart and used it to motivate him this offseason," wrote Frank Urbina. "Considering that Doncic historically hasn't always been the best about taking his summers seriously as far as his fitness level, that could be a great sign for the Los Angeles Lakers - and a scary one for the team's opponents in 2025-26. "An elite scorer, playmaker and rebounder for his position, Doncic is just lacking on the defensive side of the ball, but perhaps with his improved fitness level heading into the campaign, that might change, too. Regardless, Doncic remains on the path of first-ballot Hall-of-Famer, and we expect him to get right back to 1st Team All-NBA-level play in 2025-26, which should put the Lakers in championship contender status." In a way, it does make sense that Gilgeous-Alexander earned the top spot in HoopsHype's ranking. He just finished a campaign in which he led the NBA in scoring and earned the regular-season and finals MVP awards, not to mention his first championship. But he isn't the passer or rebounder that Doncic is, and he may not be quite as deadly as Doncic is in crunch time. Urbina did mention that HoopsHype could regret ranking the Lakers superstar at No. 2 by next summer, especially given that he is much leaner and fitter now.
New York Times
5 hours ago
- New York Times
Kyle Schwarber hears MVP chants, hits slam to reach 40 homers: ‘The guy is unbelievable'
PHILADEPHIA — The 'MVP' chants started when Kyle Schwarber stepped to the plate. The roar continued as he sat on the first pitch of his second at-bat, in the sixth, a fastball outside, and escalated when his bat connected with the next pitch, a 95.9 mph fastball. It was a crack so sharp, so clear, all of Citizens Bank Park knew. Advertisement Fans leaped from their seats. Edmundo Sosa, Weston Wilson and Trea Turner watched the ball sail 390 feet, then ran the bases. Pitcher Jesús Luzardo saw the ball fly and knew, with how long the sixth had gone and was going, he would not return to the game. The ball was gone. Schwarber's second grand slam of the season rocked into the right-center stands. 'Those are the moments you take in as a player,' Schwarber said. 'Those are special things that happen. Those are things that just go in the back of the memory and you hold onto for a while.' The grand slam, Schwarber's 40th homer of the season, sealed a 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles on Monday. It was his second home run of the game, and 10th since his dominance in the All-Star Game swing-off on July 15. Now, Schwarber leads the National League in home runs, sitting second in the majors (Cal Raleigh has 42). With more home runs comes more difficulty for everyone trying to describe what Schwarber is doing. Manager Rob Thomson listed what Schwarber has accomplished this season: the big hits, the home runs, the RBIs. Harrison Bader, a Phillies player for all of five days, said he's watched Schwarber's routine, poise and work ethic and said it 'really does make sense why he's so successful.' 'It was incredible,' Thomson said. 'He had MVP chants, and I think they're warranted,' Luzardo said. 'The guy is unbelievable,' Bader said. The designated hitter had somewhat of a down June. And down, for Schwarber, meant a slash line of .214/.347/.408 with six home runs and a .756 OPS as he dealt with tougher pitching. From the All-Star break through Sunday, he posted a 1.164 OPS with a .776 slugging percentage. Throwing him a fastball in the zone, as the Orioles did on both home runs, was a grave error. The 'MVP' chants, which continued when Schwarber singled in the eighth, are fun. Schwarber said they feed into his efforts at the plate. They make his at-bats even more of an event. But could there be something real to his MVP chances? Advertisement It would require a lot. Hitting 60 home runs would break the franchise record set by Ryan Howard (58 in 2006) and make him just the second Phillies player in history to reach 50 homers in a season. Shohei Ohtani, the three-time MVP, sits third in MLB with 38 home runs. A first-place MVP finish for Schwarber seems unlikely. A top-three or top-five finish, however, seems within the realm of possibility. Schwarber, for all his strong seasons, has placed no better than 15th in MVP voting. Cracking the top-five, especially in a contract year, matters — even if Schwarber, for now, is caught up in the day-to-day. 'I'm not trying to go out there and think about records or anything like that,' Schwarber said. 'I'm just trying to go out on a daily basis and try to help these guys. If (breaking Howard's record) happens, it's great. If it doesn't, it's great.' Helping the other guys has been key since the All-Star break ended July 18. Schwarber has 10 homers since then. Bryce Harper has seven. Their power hitting, slowly, has caught on. The Phillies, from Opening Day through the end of June, ranked 16th with 89 home runs. Since the All-Star Break, the club leads the league in homers (33). And Monday marked the Phillies' first game with six home runs since Sept. 6, 2021. Harper homered in the first inning, and Schwarber in the third. Then, with two outs in the sixth, the rest of the lineup came together. Bader had his first hit in a Phillies uniform, a three-run homer, to provide a 6-3 lead. Five batters — and three hits — later, Schwarber hit the grand slam. The power, long a question mark for this team, seems to have arrived. There is also something to be said about the Phillies — and not just Schwarber and Harper — delivering timely hits late in close games as they did Friday and Monday. The combination, should the Phillies continue to embrace it, could be crucial. Advertisement '(Home runs) excite the crowd,' Schwarber said. 'It excites the dugout. You can kind of feel that energy, and it can kind of carry over to the next at-bat for someone. You get the fans (energetic), they're still going, and the next thing you know, it's more runs, more runs, more runs. ' (Top photo of Kyle Schwarber: Heather Barry / Getty Images)
Washington Post
6 hours ago
- Washington Post
Napheesa Collier out for a few weeks with sprained right ankle
MINNEAPOLIS — Napheesa Collier will be sidelined for a few weeks after spraining her right ankle against the Las Vegas Aces on Saturday, the team announced Monday. Collier will be reevaluated in the coming weeks. The MVP frontrunner appeared to step on teammate Alanna Smith's left foot and immediately went down near Las Vegas' bench with the Lynx holding a 92-49 lead late in the third quarter.
