Lynx’s Napheesa Collier reveals turning point behind surgery decision

The last time people saw Napheesa Collier on the court, she was in tears. She suffered an ankle injury in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the semifinals between the Minnesota Lynx and the Phoenix Mercury, forcing her to exit the game. They lost, 84-76.

It practically doomed the Lynx in the best-of-five series, as they got eliminated in Game 4, with Collier sitting out the contest.

Entering the new season, Collier wants to pick up where she left off and bounce back from such an anti-climactic ending to last season.

She underwent surgery in March. It forced her to miss the second season of Unrivaled and will likely sit out the first few games of the Lynx, as she is not expected to return until June.

The road to recovery has been difficult, but Collier said getting surgery was the right choice, as reported by Lynx reporter Andrew Dukowitz.

“I’m usually a pretty fast healer. I tried anyway and tried to do the rehab, but it wasn’t getting any better. So I finally saw a surgeon, and he’s like, ‘It’s not going to get any better.’ I was like, ‘That makes sense,'” said Collier.

“Once I knew I had to have the surgeries, I just switched my mindset to attack the rehab and get back healthy for the WNBA season.”

Napheesa Collier on the decision process to have her ankles operated on

“Neither of them started getting any better, so I kind of knew in the back of my head, I’m usually a pretty fast healer. I tried anyway and tried to do the rehab and it wasnt getting any better so I finally… pic.twitter.com/Q0DmOMKWrO

— Andrew Dukowitz (@adukeMN) May 4, 2026

Collier, who recently re-signed with the Lynx, finished runner-up anew in the MVP race last season after putting up career-bests of 22.9 points and 1.5 blocks on top of 7.3 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.6 steals.

She also became only the second player in league history to average shooting splits of 50-40-90, joining Elena Delle Donne.

The Lynx were on track to win their fifth title until Collier fell with an ankle injury. The next time people see her on the court, she will be a woman on a warpath.

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