The WNBA's MVP race is shaping up to be a tight one between 4-time winner A'ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles, who already almost certainly has Rookie of the Year in the bag. While Wilson is leading the league in more than one stat, Miles has contributed to the Lynx's success this season in a way that a lot of people didn't see coming.
One of those people may have been her head coach, Cheryl Reeve. That's understandable, since rookies don't usually come in and immediately take over their new team — and lead them straight to the top of the league's standings. And while basketball is a team sport and the Lynx's success this season has been a team-wide effort, even Reeve noted this week that they wouldn't be where they are without Miles right in the thick of things.
While speaking to reporters this week, Reeve pointed out the Lynx's impressive record of 31 wins and 7 losses and noted they have six games left. This was after the team beat the Washington Mystics 94-84. She then addressed the MVP race and Miles specifically. "If Olivia Miles doesn't play, we're not 31 and 7," she said.
"So, to me, MVP awards should go to teams that are at the top, especially if that player, if she’s not out there, we have a hard time being where we are" Reeve continued.
The Lynx's lead over the rest of the WNBA is impressive. The team is up over the Golden State Valkyries and Las Vegas Aces by five games, and up over the fourth-ranked Indiana Fever by six. Nearly everyone expected the Lynx to struggle this season after the team announced Napheesa Collier would miss a huge portion of games, but Miles refused to let that be the 2026 narrative.
If MVP is truly about who has been the most valuable player in a season, then it's hard to come up with any reason why that person is anyone other than Miles. She would become only the second player in WNBA history to claim Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season Candace Parker, who was the first player to pull that feat off back in 2008 after her first season with the Los Angeles Sparks, retired from the WNBA with two MVP wins to her name. And on her own, Wilson is having a legendary season — but the fact that the Lynx are outperforming everyone might just push Miles over the top.
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