Napheesa Collier and Alanna Smith went to dinner in Turkey last winter.
Collier was the Lynx’s star, a first-team All-WNBA player headed to her second Olympics. Smith was a free agent, coming off a breakthrough season in Chicago.
She was also a post player Collier hated going against.
Join me in Minnesota, Collier said.
It started as a simple recruitment. But, hours in, it became more. It was the beginning, as they say in the movies, of a beautiful friendship.
“She is able to receive,” Smith said.
So what does that mean? Collier is a Hall of Fame-caliber player who listens. Lynx guard Courtney Williams, who has played in two WNBA Finals, said Collier is the most humble star she has known.
“She is the most selfless superstar in the league,” Kayla McBride said. “She lets people feel comfortable in their own skin.”