MINNEAPOLIS -- All-Star Napheesa Collier's return could be imminent for a Minnesota Lynx team that entered the weekend tied atop the WNBA standings with the Las Vegas Aces, coach Cheryl Reeve said following her team's thrilling 90-85 victory over the New York Liberty on Saturday.
The Lynx (17-6) have five more games, including three home games, before the WNBA All-Star Game in Chicago on July 25.
"You don't know what the game situations are going to bring, and so it's going to be a little bit of feeling it out, trial and error," Reeve said following Minnesota's victory on Saturday about Collier's eventual return from dual offseason ankle surgeries. "I don't have a date for you as to when, but obviously she's getting really close."
All-Star Olivia Miles (23 points, five rebounds, four assists Saturday) has dazzled throughout her rookie season and on Saturday became the fastest player in WNBA history to amass 350 points, 100 rebounds and 100 assists, according to ESPN Research. But the Lynx franchise still runs through Collier, Reeve said before Saturday's matchup.
"With regard to her [return], it's still Phee's team," Reeve said before her team's win. "There is not anybody that walks into the gym that doesn't know that it's still Phee's team. What's great is [Courtney Williams] and [Kayla McBride], they're very happy to declare that it's Phee's team."
Collier, who finished second to A'ja Wilson in the WNBA MVP race in 2024 and 2025, recently returned to practice as she prepares to make her season debut.
McBride, who helped her team rebound after the Liberty took the lead following Sabrina Ionescu's 19-point third quarter, said the Lynx are excited for Collier's season debut.
"I think when you care about one another and you're trying to win every possession, you're competing together, you're always trying to find a way," said McBride, who finished 5-for-11 from beyond the arc and scored a game-high 25 points Saturday. "And then obviously adding an MVP candidate for the last couple years into that mix just gets us really excited. But we've been holding it down and it's been a lot of fun. I think there's a lot of cohesion, a lot of confidence in one another right now and just finding ways to win. And that's the name of the game. That's what this league is about."
In Collier's absence, Miles has emerged as one of the league's most promising players. She was voted a starter for the All-Star Game. She's also a legit MVP candidate, along with teammate Natasha Howard, who scored 16 points Saturday.
Reeve said she's too focused on today to think about the team's transition once Collier returns, but she said the former MVP candidate will also benefit from Miles' talent.
"She needs more than herself, and that's for her to play with a point guard like Olivia Miles that Seimone Augustus got to play with, that Maya Moore got to play with -- the natural point guard," said Reeve, who set the record for the most regular-season wins by a head coach in WNBA history with her team's 86-80 win over the Connecticut Sun on Wednesday, about past stars she has coached.
"[Collier] hasn't experienced that yet. And this is what we're going to be able to do and for her to be able to see what that's like. Then maybe let's get some games with [Collier and Miles] together and figure out what they look like and then we can start putting in a pecking order."
Reeve said the tenacity and toughness Miles plays with is "natural" and a key component in her success thus far in her career. But Collier is still considered the leader of this group, the coach said.
"I think it's premature to anoint anyone other than [Collier] as the leader of this team," Reeve said.