4-Time WNBA Champion Makes Honest Olivia Miles Admission Amid MVP Buzz
Olivia Miles continues to draw attention as her rookie season reaches another level.
A’ja Wilson remains the frontrunner for WNBA MVP as she pushes for a fifth award and a shot at making history. A third consecutive MVP would make her the first player to ever pull that off, a mark no one else in league history has reached.
But the conversation around this year’s award has started to shift slightly, with Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles forcing her way into the discussion. Miles has been the engine behind Minnesota’s 30-7 record, and her rookie season has been difficult to ignore no matter where the MVP race ultimately lands.
Her passing ability was never in question coming into the league, but the scoring efficiency has added a new layer to her game, one that has caught the attention of people who know point guard play as well as anyone. WNBA legend Sue Bird is one of them.
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The four-time champion brought up Miles on a recent episode of her podcast, “Bird’s Eye View,” and pulled no punches on what she’s seeing.
“She’s incredible to watch,” Bird said. “She’s bringing new aspects of the game to that position… the point guard spot has been an evolution. It was – all you do is dribble it up, call the play, and pass, and you’re probably not a shooter, and we can just ignore you – to like an evolution of you have to be a scorer. Now she’s adding her own flavor to it. The way she finishes around the rim, it’s almost like an analytical version. She’s at the rim, or she’s shooting threes, and then on top of that, breaking down defenses and finding her teammates… There’s going to be a little kid that’s going to copy that.”
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The numbers surely back up Bird’s praise, as Miles is averaging 19.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.2 assists and 1.3 steals, shooting 50.3% from the field, 40.7% from three and 87.2% from the line. She leads all rookies in scoring, assists, steals and made threes, and ranks eighth in the entire league in both scoring and assists.
Minnesota’s rise this season has tracked closely with Miles’ impact on both ends of the floor.
The Lynx currently sit four games clear of the rest of the league and are closing in on the No. 1 overall seed heading into the postseason. Their next matchup comes Saturday against the Washington Mystics at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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