This article was originally published on www.si.com/wnba/lynx as Lynx's Courtney Williams Talks Napheesa Collier's MVP Snub, Game 2 Adjustments.

Napheesa Collier ’s husband, Alex Bazzell, paid a sweet birthday tribute to her as she turned 29 on Tuesday. Bazzell couldn’t stop gushing over Collier on her special day, praising her for being an inspiration.

It was revealed Sunday that Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson won WNBA MVP with 51 out of a possible 72 first-place votes; Collier received 18 first-place votes. It was a wider margin than expected, especially as Collier was regarded as the favorite until an ankle injury on Aug. 2 kept her out of action for three weeks.

The star of Minnesota’s success in 2025 has been the efforts of star forward Napheesa Collier. Collier averaged 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting an impressive 53.1% from the field. She was in MVP talks all season and finished second in voting behind A’ja Wilson, who took the award for the fourth time in her career.

Gamal, from Sierra Leone, comes from a family of political leaders, including his father, Gershon Collier, who was an ambassador to the United Nations. As a political science major himself, Gamal preached to kids the value of living in a free country and being able to create opportunity and express opinion.

Thomas has an MVP résumé and in most seasons in WNBA history would have been the runaway winner. But she wasn't as good or impactful as Wilson or Collier this season, and the Mercury had a worse record than the Aces and Lynx, so she falls to third.

Heading into the 2025 WNBA season, the schedule makers likely saw this late-season matchup between the Indiana Fever and Minnesota Lynx as a big-ticket event, e

The Minnesota Lynx and Phoenix Mercury will square off in Game 2 of their ongoing WNBA semifinal series on Tuesday.