Despite Olivia Miles’ disastrous postseason campaign, nothing can take away the magic she produced during the regular season. Miles deservedly won the Rookie of the Year award and is also under consideration for the league MVP honors. However, former ESPN host Linda Cohn believes the latter is a bit too far-fetched, even for a player of Miles’ caliber.
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In the latest episode of the Linda Cohn Show on YouTube, Cohn was all in for Miles winning ROTY honors and believed the league is in “good hands” with the Lynx rookie as one of the leaders of the new generation. But when it came to Miles as this year’s MVP, Cohn’s answer was a stark contrast.
“This year? No — I never understood why she was an MVP candidate. She was surrounded by great players. It was a learning experience. So yeah, this is a shocker for me. We both thought we wouldn’t be surprised if Minnesota won at all.” Cohn told WNBA analyst Maurice Drake Jr. about Olivia Miles potentially winning the league MVP award.
Linda Cohn is not putting down Miles’ generational performance as a rookie this year. After all, Miles has averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 6.0 assists on almost 50% shooting from the field, officially beating Caitlin Clark’s rookie record of most points scored in a single season. Miles swept all four Rookie of the Month awards and also achieved All-Star starter status.
Cohn’s main argument against Miles winning the league MVP is the support she received from fellow Lynx stars throughout the season. While Miles was among the Lynx’s best players, Napheesa Collier had an eventful season even after returning from a long-term ankle injury and was a key part of Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve’s plans.
Collier herself averaged 16.8 points and 6.9 rebounds on 50% shooting from the field despite missing the entire first half of the season.
Kayla McBride was another important piece in the Lynx lineup, averaging 17.6 points. McBride was one of the anchors of the team along with Miles when Collier was still out. Natasha Howard and Courtney Williams have also put in significant contributions for the Lynx this season, registering 14.8 and 13.8 points, respectively.
On the other hand, Olivia Miles’ competition consists of four-time MVP A’ja Wilson and Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark. Both are currently in a 1-1 first-round playoff series and have shown exactly why they deserve the designation of league MVP this season in their respective home games.
Wilson is still the frontrunner for the award after averaging a league-high 26.2 points along with 9.4 rebounds and over 50% shooting efficiency. Clark is not behind thanks to her elite scoring and playmaking. She averaged 22.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 8.3 assists.
The league MVP has not been announced yet, so if Olivia Miles wins it, she will become the first player since Candace Parker in 2008 to win both the Rookie of the Year and MVP awards in the same season.
Chances are looking slimmer, though, as A’ja Wilson recently won the AP Player of the Year award, just as Olivia Miles won the AP Rookie of the Year award. If the pattern continues, we could very well see Wilson winning her third consecutive and fifth overall MVP award this season.
Meanwhile, Miles herself has shown a lot of respect for the veterans. Despite filling in for Collier and successfully taking up the role of a leader on the court, Miles gave credit to her seniors for guiding her.
“I never actually knew what I was doing… Kind of fake it till you make it, and obviously have Hall of Famers on staff and future Hall of Famers that I’m playing with. And so I have no choice but to be curious and to ask them what the heck is going on at times, ” Miles said during the Rookie of the Year press conference.
After a near-perfect regular season and a lackluster postseason, Cheryl Reeve will head back to the drawing board to see what went wrong, and it may be safe to say Olivia Miles will be front and center in the head coach’s plans.