Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve won a pair of top WNBA awards and forward Napheesa Collier was named the Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced on Sunday.
Reeve was honored as Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year after leading the Lynx to a franchise-best 30-win regular season and a sweep of the Phoenix Mercury in the first round of the playoffs.
With the honor, Reeve, 58, becomes the first person to win Coach of the Year four times. She previously won the award in 2011, 2016 and 2020. This is her second time being named Executive of the Year title after her 2019 win, and makes her only the second person to win the coach and executive awards in the same season. Curt Miller is the only other person to scoop in both prizes in 2017 with the Connecticut Sun
In her 15th season as the head coach of the Lynx, Reeve received 62 of 67 votes from a national media panel. Sandy Brondello of the New York Liberty got four votes, and Indiana Fever coach Christie Sides was named on one ballot.
As for Collier, this is her first Defensive Player of the Year award. She received 36 of 67 votes, with A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces second with 26. Collier, 28, is in her sixth WNBA season and started all 34 of her games played. She ranked second in the league in steals per game (1.91), third in rebounds (9.7), fourth in defensive rebounds (7.5) and seventh in blocked shots (1.41). Over the course of the regular season, Collier held opponents to just 39.6% shooting. She is also only the fifth player in league history to win Defensive Player of the Year while averaging 20 or more points a game on offense.
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The four-time All-Star had 10 defensive rebounds or more in seven games and eight steals in one night against the Los Angeles Sparks on 14 June.
The Lynx finished the regular season second in the league with fewest points allowed (75.6).
Minnesota, who are looking to win their fifth title, are next in action against the Connecticut Sun in the semi-final round of the WNBA playoffs on Sunday night.