Collier Is Second WNBA Player to Join the 50/40/90 Club; Will It Be Enough to Win MVP?

• Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx became the second player in WNBA history to join the 50/40/90 club.
• Elena Delle Donne is the only other WNBA player to hit those marks.
• Delle Donne won the MVP when she did in 2019; can Collier do it in 2025?

Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx made history as she became the second WNBA player to join basketball’s 50/40/90 club in the team’s season finale.

Elena Delle Donne was the first to do it, and she won the MVP in that 2019 season. Can Collier also win the MVP?

Collier Is First WNBA Player to Hit 50/40/90 While Averaging 20 Points or More

Collier reached the historic benchmark in the Lynx’s 72-53 win over Golden State in their season finale.

The WNBA All-Star MVP and reigning Defensive Player of the Year was shooting 39.2% from three-point land ahead of the final game, and she said that she knew what she had to do to hit the 40% mark. Collier shot 3-of-4 from beyond the arc to get to 40%. She’ll finish the regular season shooting 53.1% from the field, including 40.3% from the three-point line, and 90.6% from the free-throw line.

Collier became the second player in WNBA history to join the 50/40/90 club. The first was Elena Delle Donne, who did it in 2019 with Washington. Delle Donne shot 51.5% from the field, 43% from three-point land, and 97.4% from the charity stripe. But Collier is the first to do it while averaging over 20 points, as Delle Donne had 19.5 points in 2019. The Lynx star will finish the season with 22.9 points.

Nine NBA players have reached the mark:

• Steve Nash (four times)
• Larry Bird, Kevin Durant (two times)
• Stephen Curry, Reggie Miller, Mark Price, Dirk Nowitzki, Malcolm Brogdon, Kyrie Irving (one time)

The Lynx are favored in the WNBA championship odds to win it. But after an injury slowed her momentum, will Collier win the MVP?

Will Joining the 50/40/Club Get Collier the WNBA MVP?

Collier led the WNBA MVP odds for most of the season until she hurt her ankle on August 2 in a 111-58 rout of Las Vegas. She was out for three weeks, and Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson kicked her game into high gear as the Aces have now won 16 straight games since that loss. Wilson is now the favorite in the MVP odds by a wide margin over Collier.

Delle Donne won the MVP in 2019, her second of two awards, when she completed the feat in 2019. Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve thinks that should be enough to land the MVP for Collier, who finished second to Wilson in the voting in 2024, and also finished fourth in 2023. Reeve said:

"It's only been done once before, and that player was the MVP. Phee deserves that recognition. The numbers don't lie. … It's done from start to finish. 50/40/90 is historic. I don't know how long it will be before it happens again. Napheesa Collier has been the best player in the WNBA. She deserves MVP."

It’s an extremely close race, and Wilson, already a three-time MVP, has the narrative behind her with the Aces’ resurgence. But Collier was the best player in the league over the first three months, so it’ll be interesting to see how the voters make their calls. Wilson was a unanimous MVP last year. But this year, there won’t be a unanimous winner, as it should be a tight race all the way to the end!