The WNBA today announced that Lynx forward Napheesa Collier has been selected the 2024 Defensive Player of the Year presented by KIA. Collier received 36 votes from a national panel of 60 media members and broadcasters in earning her first Defensive Player of the Year honor. She joins Sylvia Fowles (2016, 2021) as the only players in Lynx history to win the award.
Collier wrapped up her sixth season in Minnesota by starting 34 games and averaging 20.4 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 3.4 apg, 1.91 spg and 1.41 bpg in 34.7 mpg. She was 2nd in the WNBA in steals, 3rd in rebounds and 7th in blocks, posting career-high averages in all three categories, and helped the Lynx finish with the league’s 2nd-best Defensive Rating (94.8) while holding teams to the WNBA’s lowest field goal percentage (41.0%).
Originally selected by Minnesota in the first round (sixth overall) of the 2019 WNBA Draft, Collier has averaged 17.4 ppg (48.3%), 7.9 rpg, 2.9 apg, 1.69 spg and 1.18 bpg in 160 career regular season games (33.7 mpg). She appeared in her fourth WNBA All-Star Game on July 20 in Phoenix (also 2019, 2021 and 2023) and won her second Olympic gold medal on Aug. 11 in Paris, France (also 2021 in Tokyo, Japan).
(info courtesy of Lynx)
