Napheesa Collier has seemingly perfected the art of adapting. Her ability to roll with the punches and find a way for things to work in her favor even predates her days as a star for the Minnesota Lynx and vice president of the WNBPA. Before she was among the players leading the charge in the WNBA's CBA (collective bargaining agreement) negotiations, Collier was building up the problem-solving skills fans are now so used to seeing.

Collier was one of Glamour's various 2025 Women of the Year, along with four other WNBA players, and in an interview with the magazine, she dove into the time of her life when her resilience truly began to take shape: The University of Connecticut.

“I'm not the most athletic player, and I'm undersized for my position, but something that I was taught at UConn is that I try to use my abilities to be smarter than other players,” Collier said. Under legendary head coach Geno Auriemma's guidance and with a storied history to uphold in Storrs, Collier knew she had to step up to any challenge she was presented with.

“I am smaller than a lot of people, so I have to use my body to get into them before I shoot again. [I'm] just trying to outsmart instead of out-talent because I'm not [going to] be able to do that,” Collier added.

Collier may have learned how to out-talent other professional ballers by the time she reached the W, however. Not only has she gone on to win multiple Defensive Player of the Year awards and All-Star nominations, but she even stepped outside of the league with her husband Alex Bazzell and fellow WNBA superstar Breanna Stewart to co-found the three-on-three offseason league, Unrivaled.

“I was actually overseas at the time, so Alex flew to New York, had dinner with Stewie, kind of laid out the plan [and] everything involved,” Collier explained. “Right away, she's like, ‘This sounds awesome. This is something I want to be a part of.' And she came on board.”

Stewart, Collier, and Bazzell raised $35 million in capital investments, landed a multiyear media deal with TNT, and launched Unrivaled with 36 WNBA players in January 2025. They were able to grow the league's value, which now sits at $340 million before the second season has even tipped off.

“I mean, the sport is just exploding,” Collier said. “We knew the time was now, and so the faster you can get in and get it off the ground, the better.”

Unrivaled's success only proves how Collier's vision and determination can bring a plan to fruition, and she's not shy about admitting she's still learning plenty of lessons along the way. “Honestly, we were trying to push to launch in 2024, but that was just way too fast,” she said.

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That same knack for timing and knowing when to strike is what Collier is tapping into during the WNBPA's battle with the W's leadership over a new CBA agreement. Despite some accusing her and Stewart of having a conflict of interest because of their investment in Unrivaled, Collier hasn't allowed that to affect her participation in the fight for a more equitable agreement.

The 29-year-old didn't hesitate to call out commissioner Cathy Engelbert in her exit interview at the end of the Lynx's season, and she doubled down on the sentiments she expressed then when discussing the players' determination to go for what they believe they deserve.

“I feel like that is not a hard thing for me to fight for because I'm a player in this league too. I want to lift this up for everyone,” Collier said. “I don't mind that New York takes planes. I'm glad for you guys. But it shouldn't be unfair [to the point] where [some] people are living in squalor.”

Collier touched on certain details that have been major talking points in the CBA discussions, including the fact that some franchises are still way behind others when it comes to providing what the players need to play at a high professional level. One example is the discrepancies in practice facilities among the WNBA's teams.

“You know, everything is so great in Minnesota. We share everything with the [Minnesota Timberwolves]. So whatever they have, we have,” Collier detailed. “After learning that [other teams] don't even have practice facilities, they don't even have changing rooms, they don't have all these things, it just feels really unjust.”

Collier has shown that any talk of having a conflict of interest couldn't be further from her mind, as she's remaining committed to the WNBA players' side as the November 30 CBA extension date draws closer. Whether a deal miraculously materializes in time or the league experiences its first-ever lockout, Collier is in for the long haul.

“If we give in, we're not only doing a disservice to us. We're doing a disservice to where we have gotten in women's sports,” she said. “We really have no choice but to stand strong again. Not just for the present, but for the future of our league too.

“We are standing really firm on what we want, and we're not going to give in before we get it,” Collier said decisively.