INDIANAPOLIS – There are few WNBA players with more clout right now than Napheesa Collier.

The Minnesota Lynx forward is the midseason favorite for MVP, leading the league in scoring and stuffing the box in almost every other stat category, too. She’s the driving force on the league’s winningest team, one that looks certain to be in the mix for the title yet again. She was No. 2 in fan voting for the All-Star Game.

Off the court, Collier is part of the executive committee that’s negotiating for what is arguably the most pivotal contract in the WNBA’s history while Unrivaled, the offseason 3×3 league she and UConn teammate Breanna Stewart cofounded, set a new standard for what women’s sports can achieve when players are supported and celebrated.

“Phee is one of one,” said Courtney Williams, Collier’s teammate with the Lynx, Unrivaled’s Lunar Owls and, on Saturday night, the All-Star Team Collier will captain. “Every aspect – when you think of a business woman, when you think of one of the best players in the world, she checking off all the boxes. So I feel like if you wasn’t hip to it, you ain’t got no choice now.

“I’m loving that she’s getting the recognition that she deserves.”

Longtime or knowledgeable W fans already knew. After winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2019, Collier was top five in MVP voting in three of her next five seasons (she missed most of 2022 after having daughter Mila), including being runner-up to A’ja Wilson last season.

This year, Collier leads the W in scoring, her 23.9 points per game almost 2.5 points better than Wilson. She’s also in the top 10 in rebounds (7.7), steals (1.7) and blocks (1.6) through Monday night’s games.

She’s nearly impossible to defend because she doesn’t have tendencies and her movement, with and without the ball, is so fluid. And her turnaround fadeaway off one foot is lethal, quite possibly the best shot in all of basketball.

Good as Collier is, however, she often flew under the radar.

“I’ve asked the question for a long time. I think the simple answer is she’s not physically imposing. That 6-6, kind of A’ja Wilson build,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “When you look at (Collier), what you have to appreciate is the purity of her movements in her basketball. And so that’s why I think it takes a while.

“You have to sit there and watch it to go, `Oh wow,’” Reeve said. “Your eyes don’t pop when you turn on the TV or you go to a game. Your eyes don’t go to her physically. And I think that’s a big part of it.”

But everyone is now seeing what W players recognized long ago: Collier is a force, and you underestimate her at your own peril.

Unrivaled has shown the W what it can be

Since its inception, one of the WNBA’s biggest challenges has been its offseason. The season is short, six months at most compared with nine for the NBA, so players were forced to find ways to earn money and keep their games sharp the rest of the year.

For most, that meant going overseas. Being a nomad had always taken a toll, but Brittney Griner’s nearly yearlong wrongful imprisonment in Russia raised concerns about player safety.

Collier and Stewart, who played together on UConn’s 2016 national championship team, offered an answer with Unrivaled. The 3×3 league launched in January and lasted three months, a perfect bridge to the WNBA.

“It’s so important that they are competing in the offseason against one another. It’s more iron sharpens iron,” said Alex Bazzell, Unrivaled’s president and Collier’s husband.

Bazzell would know. The longtime skills coach for NBA and WNBA players has for years watched NBA players spend their offseasons playing together or working out together in Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

“The women have really never had that at their disposal at this level,” Bazzell said.

But it soon became apparent Unrivaled was a game-changer off the court, as well.

The league offered players equity and monster salaries; the average salary, about $222,000, was more than $5,000 above the WNBA’s maximum salary this year. (The WNBA also has a supermax salary of almost $250,000, according to HerHoopStats.com.)

Unrivaled also was hyperconscious of player needs, including first-class facilities, a personal chef at the arena, a glam room and child care. The league also housed the players in spacious apartments and offered vetted nannies for off-hours.

Sure, Unrivaled had an advantage of playing in one locale and didn’t have the expense of travel costs. It also had a laundry list of top-tier sponsors – Sephora, Samsung, Ally, to name a few – and big-name investors, as well as a national TV contract from the opening tip.

But if a startup league could do this – in its first season, no less – it’s put pressure on the WNBA to keep up.

Just as negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement were ramping up.

“We didn’t create a model for that purpose, but I think we definitely knew that it has to have an effect. Especially when players came in and they were saying, `This is nice to be treated this way. I’m not having this on my W teams,’” Collier said.

“Showing players what their worth is and how they should be treated, that was a really fun part of it and I think it affects (the game) in a positive way,” she added. “Because, again, I think it just shows the players what the professional experience should be like and holds the league’s feet to the fire in that way.”

As the W grows, CBA negotiations heat up

And Collier is making sure that continues.

The W is reaping the benefits of both the explosion of interest in women’s sports and the Caitlin Clark effect. Sponsors are clamoring for a piece of the league, team valuations are skyrocketing and a fat new TV contract kicks in next season. Though WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said players deserve a significant bump in this new CBA, the players said the league’s initial offer was underwhelming.

“They kind of just ignored everything we said,” Stewart, who like Collier is also part of the WNBPA’s executive committee, said earlier in July.

So it did not go unnoticed that during the All-Star Game draft, televised nationally on ESPN, Collier wore Unrivaled gear and name-dropped that league several times. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that the days of players being grateful for anything they get are over, and the W would be foolish to underestimate their resolve.

“Now more than ever, players understand the business because, especially as women’s athletes, our bodies, our image is a business. We’ve had to get accustomed to the business life. We make most of our money off the court, so business is our life,” Collier said.

“We’ve looked through all the numbers, we’ve been able to see where the money’s going. Especially through Unrivaled, I understand how money should be spent, how much things cost,” Collier added. “So I think that’s been a really good asset for us.”

Reeve and Lynx teammates praise Collier for her easygoing nature and willingness to take feedback from anyone. But that does not make her a pushover. She is smart, she is savvy and she will stand her ground when it’s warranted.

‘It takes a lot to put yourself in that space. It really takes a lot. And so I’m proud of her,’ Reeve said.

The most impactful players are those who rise to the occasion, whenever and wherever it comes. This is Collier’s moment, and she’s proven she is more than ready for it.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

INDIANAPOLIS – There are few WNBA players with more clout right now than Napheesa Collier.

The Minnesota Lynx forward is the midseason favorite for MVP, leading the league in scoring and stuffing the box in almost every other stat category, too. She’s the driving force on the league’s winningest team, one that looks certain to be in the mix for the title yet again. She was No. 2 in fan voting for the All-Star Game.

Off the court, Collier is part of the executive committee that’s negotiating for what is arguably the most pivotal contract in the WNBA’s history while Unrivaled, the offseason 3×3 league she and UConn teammate Breanna Stewart cofounded, set a new standard for what women’s sports can achieve when players are supported and celebrated.

“Phee is one of one,” said Courtney Williams, Collier’s teammate with the Lynx, Unrivaled’s Lunar Owls and, on Saturday night, the All-Star Team Collier will captain. “Every aspect – when you think of a business woman, when you think of one of the best players in the world, she checking off all the boxes. So I feel like if you wasn’t hip to it, you ain’t got no choice now.

“I’m loving that she’s getting the recognition that she deserves.”

Longtime or knowledgeable W fans already knew. After winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2019, Collier was top five in MVP voting in three of her next five seasons (she missed most of 2022 after having daughter Mila), including being runner-up to A’ja Wilson last season.

This year, Collier leads the W in scoring, her 23.9 points per game almost 2.5 points better than Wilson. She’s also in the top 10 in rebounds (7.7), steals (1.7) and blocks (1.6) through Monday night’s games.

She’s nearly impossible to defend because she doesn’t have tendencies and her movement, with and without the ball, is so fluid. And her turnaround fadeaway off one foot is lethal, quite possibly the best shot in all of basketball.

Good as Collier is, however, she often flew under the radar.

“I’ve asked the question for a long time. I think the simple answer is she’s not physically imposing. That 6-6, kind of A’ja Wilson build,” Minnesota coach Cheryl Reeve said. “When you look at (Collier), what you have to appreciate is the purity of her movements in her basketball. And so that’s why I think it takes a while.

“You have to sit there and watch it to go, `Oh wow,’” Reeve said. “Your eyes don’t pop when you turn on the TV or you go to a game. Your eyes don’t go to her physically. And I think that’s a big part of it.”

But everyone is now seeing what W players recognized long ago: Collier is a force, and you underestimate her at your own peril.

Unrivaled has shown the W what it can be

Since its inception, one of the WNBA’s biggest challenges has been its offseason. The season is short, six months at most compared with nine for the NBA, so players were forced to find ways to earn money and keep their games sharp the rest of the year.

For most, that meant going overseas. Being a nomad had always taken a toll, but Brittney Griner’s nearly yearlong wrongful imprisonment in Russia raised concerns about player safety.

Collier and Stewart, who played together on UConn’s 2016 national championship team, offered an answer with Unrivaled. The 3×3 league launched in January and lasted three months, a perfect bridge to the WNBA.

“It’s so important that they are competing in the offseason against one another. It’s more iron sharpens iron,” said Alex Bazzell, Unrivaled’s president and Collier’s husband.

Bazzell would know. The longtime skills coach for NBA and WNBA players has for years watched NBA players spend their offseasons playing together or working out together in Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

“The women have really never had that at their disposal at this level,” Bazzell said.

But it soon became apparent Unrivaled was a game-changer off the court, as well.

The league offered players equity and monster salaries; the average salary, about $222,000, was more than $5,000 above the WNBA’s maximum salary this year. (The WNBA also has a supermax salary of almost $250,000, according to HerHoopStats.com.)

Unrivaled also was hyperconscious of player needs, including first-class facilities, a personal chef at the arena, a glam room and child care. The league also housed the players in spacious apartments and offered vetted nannies for off-hours.

Sure, Unrivaled had an advantage of playing in one locale and didn’t have the expense of travel costs. It also had a laundry list of top-tier sponsors – Sephora, Samsung, Ally, to name a few – and big-name investors, as well as a national TV contract from the opening tip.

But if a startup league could do this – in its first season, no less – it’s put pressure on the WNBA to keep up.

Just as negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement were ramping up.

“We didn’t create a model for that purpose, but I think we definitely knew that it has to have an effect. Especially when players came in and they were saying, `This is nice to be treated this way. I’m not having this on my W teams,’” Collier said.

“Showing players what their worth is and how they should be treated, that was a really fun part of it and I think it affects (the game) in a positive way,” she added. “Because, again, I think it just shows the players what the professional experience should be like and holds the league’s feet to the fire in that way.”

As the W grows, CBA negotiations heat up

And Collier is making sure that continues.

The W is reaping the benefits of both the explosion of interest in women’s sports and the Caitlin Clark effect. Sponsors are clamoring for a piece of the league, team valuations are skyrocketing and a fat new TV contract kicks in next season. Though WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert has said players deserve a significant bump in this new CBA, the players said the league’s initial offer was underwhelming.

“They kind of just ignored everything we said,” Stewart, who like Collier is also part of the WNBPA’s executive committee, said earlier in July.

So it did not go unnoticed that during the All-Star Game draft, televised nationally on ESPN, Collier wore Unrivaled gear and name-dropped that league several times. It was a not-so-subtle reminder that the days of players being grateful for anything they get are over, and the W would be foolish to underestimate their resolve.

“Now more than ever, players understand the business because, especially as women’s athletes, our bodies, our image is a business. We’ve had to get accustomed to the business life. We make most of our money off the court, so business is our life,” Collier said.

“We’ve looked through all the numbers, we’ve been able to see where the money’s going. Especially through Unrivaled, I understand how money should be spent, how much things cost,” Collier added. “So I think that’s been a really good asset for us.”

Reeve and Lynx teammates praise Collier for her easygoing nature and willingness to take feedback from anyone. But that does not make her a pushover. She is smart, she is savvy and she will stand her ground when it’s warranted.

‘It takes a lot to put yourself in that space. It really takes a lot. And so I’m proud of her,’ Reeve said.

The most impactful players are those who rise to the occasion, whenever and wherever it comes. This is Collier’s moment, and she’s proven she is more than ready for it.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

One of the more prominent and previously outstanding matters of league-wide NFL business ahead of training camps, which open en masse next week, was checked off the list Thursday afternoon when Pittsburgh Steelers superstar pass rusher T.J. Watt agreed to a long-awaited contract extension, per reports, with the only professional team he’s ever known.

And while this deal was largely expected to materialize at some point this summer and may not necessarily create a seismic impact throughout the football world, it could have some broader implications than you might think.

So we thought about it and now present you with the winners and losers from Watt’s big bag of loot:

WINNERS

T.J. Watt

But of course. His three-year, $123 million extension makes him the top-paid non-quarterback in league history, in terms of average annual value, for the second time in his career. It also means Watt, 30, will almost certainly finish out his football days with the Steelers, who drafted the eventual four-time All-Pro and 2021 Defensive Player of the Year 30th overall in 2017. Pittsburgh’s all-time leader with 108 career sacks, Watt is currently sixth among active players but could vault all the way up to second with one of his typically dominant seasons in 2025. He’s certainly got 123 million reasons worth of incentives to do so.

Mike Tomlin and Omar Khan

The conclusion of negotiations with Watt would seem to mark the end of a wildly successful offseason, one when the Steelers’ longtime head coach and recently extended general manager, respectively, practiced patience while fans and some league observers practiced panic. But now Watt has returned to the fold, which he always seemed destined to do, and will soon meet new teammates like QB Aaron Rodgers, who also took his sweet time signing on, WR DK Metcalf, DB Jalen Ramsey and TE Jonnu Smith along with the incoming rookie class. Expectations are justifiably growing for a team that hasn’t won a playoff game since the 2016 season.

Jalen Ramsey

The perennial Pro Bowler was acquired (along with Smith) at the end of June in a summertime blockbuster that reshapes the back end of Pittsburgh’s defense with S Minkah Fitzpatrick headed back to the Miami Dolphins. It’s currently unclear as to how Ramsey might divide his time between covering receivers out wide, manning the slot or even putting in some work at safety with Fitzpatrick out of the picture. What is certain is that Ramsey’s best years were spent with the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he won a Super Bowl ring four years ago and was consistently at the top of his game playing behind demonic Aaron Donald, who caused so much havoc for opposing quarterbacks. Watt might not quite be Donald, but his presence is almost certain to benefit Ramsey, whether it means less time required in coverage, more opportunities to go ball hawking or even the ability to freelance more once he’s comfortable in his new system and surroundings.

Micah Parsons

With Watt’s contract done, it’s almost certainly just a matter of time before the Dallas Cowboys’ top defender − and one of the NFL’s very best − becomes the next top-paid non-quarterback of all time, whether it’s for $41.1 million a year, $44 million or whatever. But Parsons’ money is coming, and his boss, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, is probably only too happy to generate that headline in due course now that he basically knows where the target is.

(Also, Detroit Lions DE Aidan Hutchinson stands to benefit − at some point − from Watt’s newly realized riches, though he might be waiting longer given his rookie deal doesn’t expire until after the 2026 season.)

LOSERS

T.J. Watt

Bro, why are you signing this paper now? It’s supposed to be in the high 80s, humid and wet when you report to training camp in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, six days from now – where you’ll be moving into dorm rooms at Saint Vincent College. And if that’s not a darkness retreat … (Also, if the answer is evading compulsory fines for missing camp, I’d like to introduce you to Michael Strahan. But I digress.) Watt must really be missing his buddies after skipping the Steelers’ offseason training program given he could have let this drag out another couple weeks while holding in or even simply remaining at the crib or beach or wherever. In addition, no chance brothers J.J. and Derek are ever picking up another dinner check.

Cincinnati Bengals

They have yet to placate their own holdout pass rusher, All-Pro DE Trey Hendrickson waiting for his financial situation to be resolved. Hendrickson, 30, who has 35 sacks over the past two seasons – 4½ more than Watt over the same period – hasn’t necessarily been looking to reset the market. But given he’s due to make $16 million in the final year of his deal, it’s apparent to him and anyone else outside of Cincinnati that he’s (over)due for a raise and isn’t merely 39% the player Watt is (when you crunch the salary figures anyway). And given how everything is seemingly falling into place in Pittsburgh – and already was basically set in Baltimore – the Bengals would be doing little more than undercutting their playoff hopes yet again by letting business matters impede their football operation. Pay the man.

Myles Garrett

Feels like it was just five minutes ago that he became the first non-quarterback to break the $40 million per year contractual barrier. Then he was overtaken by Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase and now Watt, who both play for (better) division rivals of Garrett’s Cleveland Browns. And, after explicitly stating he was the league’s best defensive player last season after the Browns beat the Steelers in Cleveland – a remark clearly directed at Watt – doesn’t it have to irk Garrett just a little bit that he’s now the second-best paid defender … and for a team that’s probably going to stink?

New York Jets

The Steelers’ Week 1 opponents will now be catching the full T.J. Watt Experience as they unveil an offense led by new QB1 (and former Steeler) Justin Fields. And just when the NYJ might have started to hope they’d be catching a guy trying to knock off rust and possibly playing on an opening day pitch count given how negotiations can sometimes drag late into the process with Pittsburgh players …

Aaron Rodgers?

The Steelers are Watt’s team, and he’s been the face of this franchise for a minute … though maybe you could argue it’s actually Tomlin. Regardless, Rodgers will definitely be the story as long as he’s amongst the yinzers, and the spotlight is about to be completely re-trained onto the four-time league MVP. No more time spent fretting about Watt’s bank account or whereabouts or questions posed to Rodgers about what No. 90 means to the team and how important it is to reward him. Nope, nope, nope. This is now all about No. 8 and what he can do to end Pittsburgh’s playoff failures and stabilize a position – temporarily anyway – that has effectively undermined this team since even before Ben Roethlisberger retired in 2022. Have fun with that, Mr. Rodgers!