Napheesa Collier’s Record-Shattering Night: Stats, Highlights & What It Means for the Lynx

INDIANAPOLIS — The WNBA spotlight turns to Gainbridge Fieldhouse tonight, where Napheesa Collier captains “Team Collier” against Caitlin Clark’s squad in the 2025 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game, a matchup that doubles as a referendum on the forward’s breakout year and growing influence on the league’s future. On the court, Collier is authoring an MVP-caliber campaign for the Minnesota Lynx. She leads the league in scoring at 23.9 points per game and ranks top-10 in rebounds (7.7), steals (1.7) and blocks (1.6), turning the Lynx into the WNBA’s best first-half story. Her efficiency—51 percent from the field and 37 percent from three—has made her near-unguardable, especially with her patented one-legged fadeaway that is quickly becoming a league signature. But 2025 is about more than numbers for the 27-year-old UConn alum. Collier now wields outsized clout away from the hardwood as a member of the WNBPA’s executive committee, where she’s helping steer negotiations for a new collective-bargaining agreement that will kick in alongside next season’s record media-rights deal. Players insist the opening proposal fell short of the league’s surging revenues; Collier’s public stance has amplified calls for higher salary caps, charter travel and expanded benefits. Fueling those demands is Unrivaled, the three-month offseason 3-on-3 league she co-founded with Breanna Stewart. By paying six-figure salaries, offering equity stakes and delivering first-class amenities, Unrivaled showcased a new monetization model for women’s hoops and raised expectations for how the WNBA should treat its athletes. Collier’s decision to wear Unrivaled gear during the nationally televised All-Star draft underscored her message that players have lucrative alternatives—and leverage. Tonight’s All-Star Game is therefore layered with intrigue. Beyond the usual fireworks and three-point barrage, fans will watch Collier share the floor with several of the very stars—Stewart, A’ja Wilson, Sabrina Ionescu—whose market value she’s fighting to lift. If her 27-point, 10-rebound outburst in last year’s showcase is any guide, the Lynx cornerstone could strengthen her MVP narrative in front of a sold-out, prime-time audience. Search interest in Collier has spiked for good reason: she embodies the WNBA’s rapid ascent. She is a leading scorer, a labor leader, a business founder and a new mother who brought daughter Mila onto the practice court minutes after clinching her All-Star captaincy. With expansion on the horizon and media deals swelling, the league needs a face that can connect highlight reels to boardroom agendas. Collier is positioning herself to be exactly that. Fans eager to track her next milestones won’t have to wait long. The Lynx return from the break atop the standings, eyeing their first championship since 2017. CBA talks will intensify through the fall. And Unrivaled has already teased an expanded second season that could bring its high-gloss model to multiple markets. Wherever the conversation turns—trophies, salaries or startup leagues—Napheesa Collier is suddenly the name at the center.