Napheesa Collier Bio
Napheesa Collier, nicknamed “Phee,” is an American professional basketball player for the Minnesota Lynx of the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for the Lunar Owls of Unrivaled. Collier is also a co-founder of the Unrivaled basketball league, which she launched with fellow star Breanna Stewart. After playing college basketball for the University of Connecticut Huskies, Collier was drafted by the Minnesota Lynx with the sixth overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft. She has won two Olympic gold medals playing on the United States women’s national basketball team at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Games, and serves as a vice president on the Women’s National Basketball Players Association executive committee.
Early Life and Background
Napheesa Collier was born on September 23, 1996, in Jefferson City, Missouri. When she wanted to play basketball as a young athlete, the only Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) team in Jefferson City would not let her try out because they claimed the roster was full. Her parents responded by starting a new AAU team, the Lady Warriors, and recruiting girls from nearby towns. The Lady Warriors went on to compete in the national AAU tournament, and Collier stayed with them even when the original team later offered her a spot.
Collier grew up admiring fellow Jefferson City native Maya Moore, watching Moore play at the University of Connecticut and later for the Minnesota Lynx. In her freshman year of high school, she played for Jefferson City High School, where she averaged 17.9 points and 9.8 rebounds. She then transferred to Incarnate Word Academy in Bel-Nor, Missouri, where she averaged as many as 24.6 points and 12 rebounds after her family moved to St. Louis for her mother’s job in hospital administration. Collier was the 2013 and 2015 Gatorade Missouri Player of the Year, a finalist for the 2015 Naismith Award as national Player of the Year, and a Women’s Basketball Coaches Association High School All-American.
Path to Basketball
Collier received scholarship offers from colleges across the country and was determined to play for a team that could beat UConn, which had just won three straight national championships. Out of curiosity, she visited the UConn campus and was won over by the camaraderie among the players, choosing to join the Huskies for her freshman year in 2015. She became a member of the 2016 Connecticut Huskies national championship team and reached the Final Four in each of her four college seasons.
By the end of her UConn career, Collier ranked third all-time in career scoring, fourth in rebounds, and seventh in blocks. She ranked fourth in most consecutive starts with 112, recorded 49 career double-doubles, and averaged a double-double of 20.8 points and 10.8 rebounds as a senior. She became the fifth player in UConn’s exclusive 2,000-point, 1,000-rebound club, joining Maya Moore, Tina Charles, Breanna Stewart, and Rebecca Lobo. She was a two-time AP First Team All-American, received the Katrina McClain Award as Power Forward of the Year in her senior season, and posted the most rebounds in a single season in UConn history with 411.
Napheesa Collier Career
Early Career (2019–2020)
Collier was selected by the Minnesota Lynx as the sixth overall pick in the 2019 WNBA draft and was asked to play small forward before moving to power forward. In her first WNBA game against the Chicago Sky, she scored 27 points, the second-highest debut ever for any WNBA rookie at the time. She finished her rookie season averaging 13.3 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks, while shooting 49.0 percent from the field, 36.1 percent from three, and 79.2 percent from the free throw line. Collier was a unanimous choice as WNBA Rookie of the Year by ESPNW, the Associated Press, and the league.
In 2020, while the WNBA played inside the bubble environment, Collier started the podcast “Tea with A & Phee” with A’ja Wilson, which was later picked up by Just Women’s Sports. She was selected to the All-WNBA Second Team and the All-Defensive Second Team for the first time, and was voted to her second WNBA All-Star Game.
Minnesota Lynx Breakthrough (2019–2024)
Collier was only the second rookie in WNBA history to record 400 points, 200 rebounds, and 60 steals, and the fourth player to post a season with 400 points, 200 rebounds, 75 assists, 50 steals, 25 blocks, and 25 made three-pointers. She was voted to the 2019 WNBA All-Rookie Team and made the All-Star team as an injury replacement for A’ja Wilson. After returning from maternity leave in August 2022, she came back in 2023 with an MVP-caliber season as the new team captain. On June 29, 2023, she became only the second player in WNBA history to record 30-plus points, 5-plus rebounds, 5-plus assists, and 5-plus blocks in a single game, finishing with 31 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 6 blocks against the Connecticut Sun.
In 2024, Collier became the first WNBA player to score at least 115 points, grab 50 rebounds, and combine for 25 or more steals and blocks in any five-game stretch. On June 14, 2024, against the Los Angeles Sparks, she became the first WNBA player ever to record 30-plus points, 8-plus steals, 5-plus rebounds, and 2-plus blocks in a game, setting a Lynx franchise record with eight steals. She won the MVP award when the Lynx captured the 2024 WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship on June 25, 2024, against the New York Liberty. She was named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, selected to the WNBA All-Defensive First Team, and finished as runner-up for league MVP with 66 of 67 votes for second place behind A’ja Wilson.
Collier’s 2024 playoff run was historic. In Game 2 of the first round against the Phoenix Mercury, she scored 42 points, tying the WNBA playoff single-game scoring record. She set a record for most points through the first two games of a playoff series with 80 points, became the first WNBA player to score 35-plus points in consecutive postseason games, and the first to record 25-plus points and 10-plus rebounds in three straight playoff games. In the WNBA Finals against the New York Liberty, she set a new record for most points in a single postseason with 285 points, breaking Diana Taurasi’s 15-year-old mark, while also becoming the first player to lead a single playoff run in points, rebounds, steals, and blocks.
Minnesota Lynx Era (2019–Present)
Collier has spent her entire WNBA career with the Minnesota Lynx since being drafted sixth overall in 2019. She took on the role of team captain in 2023 and was named to the Minnesota Lynx All-25 Team for the franchise’s 25th anniversary. In 2024, she anchored a Lynx team that reached the WNBA Finals and won the Commissioner’s Cup, establishing herself as one of the league’s premier two-way players.
On May 28, 2025, Collier was named the Western Conference Player of the Week after opening the 2025 season averaging 29.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks in 35.0 minutes per game, helping Minnesota to its best start since 2017. On June 29, she was selected as an All-Star and named a team captain for the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, her first captaincy. She was named Western Conference Player of the Month for May, June, and July, and at season’s end joined the 50-40-90 club, only the second WNBA player to do so after Elena Delle Donne in 2019.
Driving Style and Strengths
Collier is widely recognized as one of the most complete two-way players in the WNBA, combining scoring efficiency with elite defensive versatility. She can defend multiple positions and protect the rim, while also stretching the floor as a shooter. Her strength comes from her scoring in the paint, rebounding on both ends, and her ability to disrupt opponents with blocks and steals, making her equally valuable in half-court sets and in transition.
Notable Events and Milestones
Collier won two Olympic gold medals with the United States, beating Japan in the 2020 Tokyo final and edging France 67–66 in the 2024 Paris final. She won the 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award, the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game MVP, and the 2024 Commissioner’s Cup MVP. In 2025, she became the second WNBA player to join the 50-40-90 club and won the Unrivaled 1×1 tournament and its $200,000 prize on February 14, 2025.
Napheesa Collier Career Wins
Across the WNBA, overseas leagues, the Olympics, and Unrivaled, Collier has built a resume that includes league MVP honors, a defensive player of the year award, two Olympic gold medals, multiple championships abroad, and a tournament title in Unrivaled’s inaugural season.
WNBA Highlights
Collier won the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup championship with the Minnesota Lynx in 2024, taking home the MVP award for that title game. She was named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2024, earned All-WNBA First Team and All-Defensive First Team honors that same season, and was voted a 2025 WNBA All-Star Game captain. She joined the exclusive 50-40-90 club in 2025, only the second player in league history to do so.
Other Wins and Performances
Overseas, Collier played for Lattes-Montpellier in France in 2021 and helped the club win the Coupe de France Finale in Paris. She later played for Fenerbahçe in the Turkish Super League, winning the SuperCup Women MVP in 2023 and helping Fenerbahçe claim its second straight EuroLeague Women championship in April 2024, scoring 33 points in the final. In Unrivaled’s inaugural 2025 season, Collier won the 1×1 tournament and its $200,000 grand prize on February 14, 2025, and was named league MVP. She also won two Olympic gold medals with Team USA in 2021 and 2024.
Napheesa Collier Family
Family Background and Racing Lineage
Collier is the granddaughter of Gershon Collier, a Sierra Leone Creole lawyer, former ambassador to the United Nations, former ambassador to the United States, and briefly chief justice of Sierra Leone. He died two years before she was born. Her father, Gamal Collier, raised her to understand the importance of self-sufficiency, responsibility, and upholding the family name. Her younger brother, Kai, played football at Lindenwood University in St. Charles, Missouri, and her father was briefly a professional boxer.
Personal Life
In October 2019, Collier became engaged to Alex Bazzell, a basketball skills coach, and the couple married on October 7, 2022, in St. Louis. On May 25, 2022, Collier gave birth to their daughter, Mila Sarah Bazzell. Off the court, Collier enjoys reading, especially mystery novels by Ruth Ware, learned American Sign Language while growing up, became the first WNBA player to join EcoAthletes to support climate action, and in April 2025 signed with the Jordan Brand after five years with Nike.
2025 Season Performance
Collier opened the 2025 WNBA season in outstanding form, averaging 29.5 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.5 assists, 1.8 steals, and 1.3 blocks across Minnesota’s first games and earning the Western Conference Player of the Week award on May 28, 2025. The Lynx posted their best start since 2017 behind her play, though Collier missed the May 30, 2025, game against the Phoenix Mercury due to a sore knee. She was later named an All-Star and team captain for the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game, her first captaincy, and was recognized as Western Conference Player of the Month for May, June, and July.
By the end of the 2025 season, Collier joined the 50-40-90 club, only the second WNBA player to do so after Elena Delle Donne in 2019, finishing with shooting percentages of 53 percent from the field, 40 percent from three, and 91 percent from the free throw line. She also won the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game MVP award and the inaugural Unrivaled 1×1 championship. Her all-around production kept the Lynx among the WNBA’s top contenders and reinforced her standing as one of the league’s premier two-way stars heading into the next season.