Anthony Edwards delivers straight 1-word pick in MVP battle between Napheesa Collier & A'ja Wilson

Minnesota Timberwolves star Anthony Edwards shared his pick for the 2025 WNBA MVP award. This season's MVP race has been widely regarded to be a two-player battle between Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier.

"MVPhee," Edwards wrote Friday on Threads.

Anthony Edwards chose Collier, who stars for the Lynx, the Timberwolves' WNBA counterpart. Since April, the Timberwolves and Lynx have been owned by a group led by entrepreneur Marc Lore and baseball legend Alex Rodriguez.

Explore the NBA Draft 2024 with our free NBA Mock Draft Simulator & be the GM of your favorite NBA team.

The league's top individual honor will be revealed on Sunday. Collier and Wilson headlined the five finalists announced by the WNBA on Friday. Other finalists include Phoenix Mercury's Alyssa Thomas, Atlanta Dream's Allisha Gray and Indiana Fever's Kelsey Mitchell.

In her seventh WNBA season, Collier is averaging 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game. Despite Collier being sidelined for 11 games due to injury, the Lynx had the league's best record (34-10).

Meanwhile, three-time league MVP Wilson put up 23.4 ppg, 10.2 rpg, 3.1 apg, 2.3 bpg and 1.6 spg. She led the Aces to the No. 2 seed, winning their final 16 regular-season games.

---

Former NBA player says Anthony Edwards will be MVP under one condition

Former NBA champions Iman Shumpert and Mario Chalmers claimed that Anthony Edwards will be named league MVP in the next three years. On Saturday's episode of "All In," Shumpert discussed Edwards' skills.

"I just need him to learn to play with his back to the basket so he can get to the playoffs," Shumpert said. "He'll understand how important that is. ... If he got this, where he see it coming to where he knows how to attack it, but he got your feet offset, where you're chasing in this position, as opposed to being able to slide, oh my Lord. He's going to be so dangerous."

Last season, Anthony Edwards, the No. 1 pick of the 2020 NBA draft, averaged a career-high 27.6 ppg on 44.7% shooting, including 39.5% from 3-point range.

The three-time NBA All-Star led the Minnesota Timberwolves to a second straight Western Conference finals appearance. They were defeated by the eventual champions, the OKC Thunder, in five games.

Edited by Kim Daniel Rubinos