Lynx rookie Olivia Miles makes WNBA history with MVP runner-up finish

Cassidy Hettesheimer, Star Tribune on Oct 8, 2026

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MINNEAPOLIS — For the third season in a row, a Lynx player finished as MVP runner-up to A’ja Wilson.

The WNBA announced Thursday that the Las Vegas Aces center had won her third consecutive Most Valuable Player award, extending her record-setting run to five MVPs in seven seasons.

Lynx point guard Olivia Miles, the unanimous selection for Rookie of the Year, finished second behind Wilson after helping lead the Lynx to a league-best 33-11 record in the regular season. Lynx forward Napheesa Collier finished as runner-up to Wilson in 2024 and 2025.

Wilson received 713 points from a voting body of 74 media members, including 65 of the 74 first-place votes, each worth 10 points each. Miles finished with 442 points, including six first-place votes. The voting took place at the end of the regular season.

Even as runner-up, Miles is in rare air. Candace Parker is the only player to win MVP in her first season, doing so for the Los Angeles Sparks in 2008. No other rookie had finished in the top two in voting before Miles.

Miles also becomes the first guard to finish in the top two in MVP voting since 2014. No guard has won the award since Diana Taurasi in 2009.

Kelsey Mitchell (287 points), Caitlin Clark (212 points) and Breanna Stewart (171 points) rounded out the top five in voting. Minnesota native Paige Bueckers finished sixth, with 70 points.

During the regular season, Miles led the Lynx in points (19.8) and assists (6.0) per game and added 4.7 rebounds, as the Lynx finished as the No. 1 seed before falling to the New York Liberty in the first round of the playoffs.

Miles was the first WNBA rookie to lead the regular season’s best team in scoring. She finished the regular season eighth in the league in scoring and seventh in assists.