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Napheesa Collier is the MVP favorite, leading the Minnesota Lynx to a league-best 20-4 record in the first half of the 2025 season. Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers is the one to beat right now for Rookie of the Year honors. When the present and future collide, it is important to accentuate this fusion of high-level talent. These two accomplished athletes sought to do just that during a WNBA All-Star game practice session.
Collier and Bueckers, both of whom thrived at UConn under the legendary Geno Auriemma, engaged in a fun one-on-one battle after everything settled down on Friday morning, per Myles Ehrlich. The Lynx cornerstone landed the first blow, using a jab step to keep her 23-year-old opponent at bay before sprinting to the basket for a layup.
A smiling Bueckers tightened up defensively and gave Collier little space to work with, signaling that this was not mere tomfoolery. After forcing a miss, the Wings sensation knocked down a difficult bucket while fading away. Both players were obviously enjoying themselves, but one could sense the competitive fire burning in the Indiana Convention Center.
ROOK VS VET 👀
Paige Bueckers and Napheesa Collier play 1-on-1 at the end of Team Collier practice.
(via @MylesEhrlich)pic.twitter.com/XEoRMG7m2v
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) July 18, 2025
These two Midwestern meteorites are challenging each other, which should come in handy before they and the rest of Team Collier square off with Team {Caitlin} Clark in the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game on Saturday night. Their interactions could have an impact on their respective campaigns as well. One cannot underestimate the strength of the Huskies sisterhood. The enduring bonds that form from joining the same esteemed club — women who have won national championships in Storrs, Connecticut — can be quite powerful.
Napheesa Collier co-founded the professional three-on-three league, Unrivaled, with former college teammate and fellow WNBA fixture Breanna Stewart. By the looks of it, her friendship with Paige Bueckers is also flourishing. Once the All-Star festivities end, however, they will each have serious matters to attend to during the second half of the season.
What will Napheesa Collier and Paige Bueckers unleash in the second half?
Collier and Minnesota are eyeing the championship that narrowly and devastatingly escaped them last year. The two-time All-WNBA First-Team selection is leading the league with 23.2 points per contest, while also averaging 7.6 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 1.6 blocks. The reigning Defensive Player of the Year and the Lynx as a whole have underwent significant growth in the last couple of seasons. Now, they are ready for their official coronation.
Conversely, Bueckers and the Wings are still searching for their identity as a team. Dallas sits in last place in the Western Conference with a 6-17 record, having dropped its last four games entering the All-Star break. The terrific rookie is giving fans plenty of hope that they will figure things out eventually, though.
She is posting 18.4 points, 5.5 assists, 4.0 rebounds and 1.7 steals per contest. The 32.8 percent shooting from 3-point land is a work in progress, but Bueckers is smashing expectations in her inaugural WNBA campaign. The No. 1 overall pick hopes that she and her teammates can one day rise to the level that Collier and the Lynx presently occupy.
Bueckers will surely absorb as much wisdom as possible over the weekend. It appears that she is already getting plenty out of her first All-Star experience.
