Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier is Defensive Player of the Year and Cheryl Reeve is Coach of the Year

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Napheesa Collier was voted the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and Cheryl Reeve earned the Coach of the Year award on Sunday.

Collier won the defensive award for the first time, receiving 36 votes from a 67-person national media panel. A’ja Wilson finished second with 26 votes.

The Lynx star ranked second in the league in steals per game (1.91). She was fourth in defensive rebounds per game (7.5) and seventh in blocks per game (1.41), finishing with career highs in both categories.

She helped Minnesota finish second in the league in defensive rating (94.8) and fewest points allowed (75.6).

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” Collier said. “It’s something that obviously I’ve worked hard to improve because I know it’s what’s best for the team.”

Collier led the Lynx to the second-best record in the league (30-10) under the guidance of Reeve, who won the coaching award for a record fourth time. Reeve received 62 of the 67 votes for Coach of the Year. New York’s Sandy Brondello had four votes and Indiana’s Christie Sides got one.

“I think what comes to mind this time of year is all that has gone into the season, and then for us to experience success, I think of countless hours of work in the offseason,” Reeve said.

Reeve led the U.S. women to an Olympic gold medal this summer, while three of her players — Collier (USA), Alanna Smith (Australia) and Bridget Carleton (Canada) also spent their Olympic break on the court in Paris. She credited assistant coaches Katie Smith, Rebekkah Brunson and Elaine Powell for helping to make sure the Lynx didn’t miss a beat in the second half, when they won 13 of 15 games.

“They’ve carried me,” Reeve said. “The work that they put in while we were away and Phee and Lan and Bridget came back from playing for the Olympic teams. I don’t know about them, but I was exhausted for — I’m still exhausted.”

Reeve also earned WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year for the second time. Talisa Rhea of the Seattle Storm finished second.

Reeve broke a tie with Van Chancellor of the Houston Comets (1997-99) and Mike Thibault of the Connecticut Sun and Washington Mystics (2006, 2008 and 2013), who each won coach of the year three times. Reeve was previously honored in 2011, 2016 and 2020.

___

AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball