A 91-75 loss to the New York Liberty left the Minnesota Lynx with plenty to worry about. But less than 24 hours later, the mood around Minnesota got a whole lot better, as two of the team’s biggest names from their regular season had something very different to celebrate.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
Olivia Miles has joined an exclusive club of a handful of rookies in WNBA history to win the Rookie of the Year award by unanimous vote. The Minnesota Lynx rookie received all the votes from a national panel that included broadcasters and sportswriters.
“Olivia Miles is the 2026 WNBA Rookie of the Year. The award was unanimous.”
“She received all 74 votes. Miles is the 6th unanimous ROY, joining Aliyah Boston, A’ja Wilson, Elena Delle Donne, Tina Charles and Candace Parker,” USA Today’s Meghan Hall wrote on X.
The Lynx have been among the league’s top teams throughout the season, and Miles was at the center of that success. She stepped into a major role as a rookie, helping Minnesota finish 33-11 and earn the No. 1 seed.
She is the sixth player in franchise history to win the award, joining Betty Lennox, Seimone Augustus, Maya Moore, Napheesa Collier, and Crystal Dangerfield.
The Lynx picked Miles at No. 2, and head coach Cheryl Reeve showed early trust in her, letting her spearhead the team’s offense. By the end of the season, Miles averaged 19.8 points, 6.0 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.3 steals. Now, she holds the record for most points by a rookie (790) in a season, which previously belonged to Caitlin Clark (769). She shot 49.2% from the field, which included 38.8% shooting from the deep.
After 40 appearances as a starter in the 44 games this season, Miles ended the season with the most points (both in total and average), field goals made, total assists, and efficiency. She was also top 10 in the league in scoring.
The unanimous voting shouldn’t be surprising to anyone who has followed Miles through the season. The Lynx player swept the Rookie of the Month honors four times. She was that consistent throughout the season. Miles also won the Western Conference Player of the Week twice.
Her 22 games with 20+ points is the most by a rookie in WNBA history, as is her eight 3-pointers against the Golden State Valkyries. Her 33-point performance against the Phoenix Mercury was the most by a rookie in the Lynx’s history. So an argument can be made that Miles remained a key piece of the Lynx roster even when Napheesa Collier came back from injury.
Moreover, on six different occasions, the Lynx had a game with 20+ points while recording 50/40/90% shooting splits. That is the most by any rookie in league history. She became the fastest (26 games) player to reach the 500 points and 150 assists marks in WNBA history, surpassing Clark (29) and Paige Bueckers’ (28) benchmarks.
Also, Minnesota’s Monday celebration didn’t stop there with Miles. Reeve was named the 2026 WNBA Coach of the Year. This gave her a record fifth Coach of the Year award. She previously won the honor in 2011, 2016, 2020 and 2024.
Reeve got 40 of the 74 votes from the same national media panel and guided Minnesota to the league’s best regular-season record and the No. 1 overall seed. She also became the WNBA all-time winningest coach during the season and finished the regular season with 397 wins.
Nevertheless, the timing of the two awards couldn’t come at a more dramatic time. Just one day earlier, the top-seeded Lynx were beaten 91-75 at home by the No. 8 seed Liberty, leaving their season one loss away from ending.
Miles, who had looked nearly unstoppable for much of the regular season, struggled in her playoff debut. She finished with 11 points, eight rebounds, one assist and one block while shooting just 3-of-12 from the field and committing four turnovers.
This shows what a beast the postseason is. WNBA analyst Caroline Fenton said, the rookie simply succumbed to that pressure.
“Olivia Miles is still a rookie. I know that she’s an MVP-contending player… but she is still a rookie,” Fenton said, mentioning that the playoff physicality and pressure can take time to adjust to.
Miles herself admitted she was “nervous as ever,” but through it all, Cheryl Reeve was quick to back her.
“(Miles is) feeling it right now, but this is what we expected. It’s not easy,” Reeve said. “And she’s a smart player. She’ll figure it out.”
Miles’ biggest test is happening right now in the playoffs, and fans will expect her to bounce back in Game 2.