A’ja Wilson vs. Napheesa Collier
“The reason Michael Jordan and Babe Ruth are the best players ever is that they were better at their sport than anybody else in the world is at anything.” – Bill Addleman
With just over a week left in the WNBA regular season, the MVP race has come down to two names: A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier.
According to oddsmakers like BetMGM and FanDuel, Collier currently holds the edge, and many media outlets list her as their frontrunner. Her résumé is impressive — she’s the top scorer in the league, ranks third in steals, fourth in blocks, and has led Minnesota to the league’s best record. The biggest question mark? Collier has missed 10 games, nearly a quarter of the season.
Wilson, however, has just as strong a claim. She’s the defensive anchor and star of the league’s second-best team, leading in blocks, ranking second in rebounds, fourth in steals, second in scoring, and holding the best efficiency rating overall.
So why does Collier seem to have the momentum? Minnesota’s red-hot start to the season put Collier in the spotlight, while Wilson and the Aces hovered around .500 early on. But over the past month, Las Vegas has surged — and Wilson has been playing her best basketball of the season. Still, many voters appear to have made up their minds.
Both players stood out during the 2024 Paris Olympics, showing that they are clearly among the best in the world. But as dominant as Collier has been, she still feels like Patrick Ewing’s Knicks — elite, but stuck playing against Jordan’s Bulls.
For Wilson, her biggest battle isn’t against Collier — it’s against voter fatigue. The WNBA has not had a back-to-back MVP since Cynthia Cooper in 1997 and 1998. That trend hurt Wilson last season when Breanna Stewart won the award despite Wilson earning the strongest case and, notoriously, even receiving a fourth-place vote.
The numbers tell the story: Wilson is just 99 points away from finishing with the second-highest single-season scoring total in WNBA history. Yet because it won’t surpass her mark from last year, some view it as “boring.”
Her coach, Becky Hammon, doesn’t see it that way:
“I think any time when a person has to ask the question who is as good as A’ja Wilson, that’s where you start with the conversation, that’s your answer. Don’t get tired of her greatness. At times, I look down at the stat sheet and I’m like, Oh ****, she has 36 or she has 34. You don’t even notice that because it’s become so normal.
I don’t want the world to miss her because she’s here, she’s right now, she’s in her prime, and she is killing it.”
At 29, Wilson has already cemented her place among the all-time greats. She is tied with three other players with three MVPs, and barring injury, she’s likely to become the first to win four — if not this year, then soon. That would place her in rare company across all sports.
In the NBA, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Michael Jordan (five), Bill Russell (five), Wilt Chamberlain (four), and LeBron James (four) have reached that milestone. In baseball, only Barry Bonds has more than three (seven). In football, Peyton Manning (five) and Aaron Rodgers (four) lead the list.
This Thursday’s matchup between Minnesota and Las Vegas in Vegas could be the final stage for Collier or Wilson to make a defining MVP statement. Minnesota has already locked up homecourt advantage, but for voters, one more head-to-head performance could swing the race.
And just like Jordan or Ruth, Wilson and Collier are showing the world what true greatness looks like.
