The WNBA today announced Lynx guard Olivia Miles has been named the Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year by a unanimous vote of a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Miles becomes the sixth rookie in franchise history to earn the award (Crystal Dangerfield, 2020; Napheesa Collier, 2019; Maya Moore, 2011; Seimone Augustus, 2006; Betty Lennox, 2000) and the first since 2020, when Dangerfield earned the honor.
The No. 2 overall pick in the 2026 WNBA Draft wrapped up her debut season by breaking the league’s all-time rookie scoring record with 790 points. She averaged 19.8 points on 49.2% shooting from the floor and 38.8% from deep, along with 6.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in 40 appearances (all starts). Miles finished her rookie campaign ranked seventh in the league in assists, eighth in scoring and ninth in both total points (790) and total assists (239), while leading all rookies in total points, points per game, field goals made (279), defensive rebounds (163), total assists, assists per game and efficiency (21.4).
Miles swept the WNBA Rookie of the Month honors this season and was named Western Conference Player of the Week twice (June 9 and Aug. 18). She recorded a WNBA rookie-record 22 games with 20+ points and recorded three contests with 30+ points, including a rookie-record eight three-pointers against Golden State on June 4. Miles also broke the single-game franchise rookie scoring record with a 33-point performance against Phoenix on July 13. She scored in double figures in each of her first 15 career games, the longest such streak in franchise history since Augustus in 2006 (9).
The Phillipsburg, N.J. native was the only rookie named to the 2026 WNBA All-Star Game and was also named a starter. Miles recorded the most games by a rookie in WNBA history with 20+ points on 50/40/90% shooting splits (6) and became the third rookie in WNBA history to record multiple 20+ point games on 80%+ shooting from the floor, matching Aliyah Boston (2023) and Paige Bueckers (2025) with two such games each. The guard also became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 500 points and 150 assists (26 games), breaking Bueckers’ mark of 28 games set last season, and the second rookie in WNBA history to average at least 15.0 points and 5.0 assists while shooting at least 45.0% from the field in a season, joining Bueckers (2025).
(info and stock photo courtesy of Lynx)
