The Defensive Player of the Year is amping up her game in the postseason. Napheesa Collier has helped her team defeat the Connecticut Sun to grab a spot in the WNBA Finals vs. the NY Liberty. A force to be reckoned with all season long, she was rightly the runner-up in MVP voting behind A’ja Wilson. But despite all of her achievements, Sheryl Swoopes has a question for the Minnesota Lynx star.

The retired pro often offers valuable commentary about the WNBA and its players. But this year, she made headlines for criticizing Caitlin Clark. Now, it seems like it’s Napheesa Collier’s turn. On the latest episode of Queens of the Court, Swoopes discussed Collier’s DPOY award and began with a hesitant congratulations. Then she got to the point: “Here’s my question. And it’s not to take anything away from Napheesa. I think she’s been playing exceptionally well all season on both ends of the floor.”

Swoopes had also admitted that CC was deserving of the ROTY she won, just like she said words of praise for Collier. But she also asked, “My question is, when awards are selected – and again, I do not vote, I’m gonna keep saying that – when you’re looking at individual awards, are you looking at what that player does individually? Or how what that player does individually helps the team?”

It was Collier’s first DPOY after receiving 36 of 67 votes, and Swoopes lookeed at her individual stats to justify Minnesota being “one of the best defensive teams in the league.” Collier was second in the WNBA in steals (1.91 per game), third in rebounds (9.7 per game), and seventh in blocks (1.41 per game).

But what Swoopes had an issue with was how her league favorite A’ja Wilson’s stats compared to Collier’s. Some fans raised the issue of the Lynx forward’s MVP voting as well, where she might have placed second overall but did not receive any first-place votes at all. Sheryl Swoopes continued, “I know A’ja was first in rebounding, don’t know where she was in blocks or steals, because I know there’s a big argument of ‘A’ja should have been the Defensive Player of the Year’ as well as MVP. So that’s a question I have.”

While it’s not easily answerable, Collier has stated her intentions to beat Wilson in MVP voting next year. But amid all this talk of individual awards, Collier also admitted that, at the end of the day, she’s doing it all for her team.

Napheesa Collier wants to “stay together” with her teammates for the ‘sweet ride’

When the deciding game between the Lynx and the Sun was over, and Minnesota won 88-77, Collier ran over to former Lynx player Lindsay Whalen on the sidelines to give her a hug. As much as Collier had put in an effort to win, it was all made possible by a team. “The fact that we have worked so hard and we genuinely just like each other so much, it just makes it all sweeter,” the forward told ESPN.

“It makes you want to win for them, too. It’s not just like you want to get the accolade of winning a championship. You want to do it for your teammates as well. I think that makes the ride so much sweeter. We want to keep playing because we want to stay together.”

If the Lynx end up winning their fifth trophy, it might answer Sheryl Swoopes’ question clearly. Despite whatever rules the voters had in mind when they chose Collier for DPOY, her brilliant individual performance has only ended up helping the team! Whether or not the Lynx can now bring back their dynasty era from the last decade is up to Napheesa Collier & Co.