Veteran sports analyst Linda Cohn is pushing back against the growing MVP buzz around Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles.

Cohn believes Miles has been outstanding this season. She also has no problem calling her the clear Rookie of the Year favorite. But MVP? That is where Cohn draws the line.

"Napheesa Collier was hurt. She's back, and Minnesota is another title contender. There is no question about it. Everybody wants to get excited for Olivia Miles, as they should. She will win Rookie of the Year. That's fine. She's not winning MVP," Cohn said on a recent episode of The Linda Cohn Show.

She even says parts of the WNBA media and basketball world are looking too hard for a new name to put ahead of Caitlin Clark.

"Why do people have to go out of their way to just create some, as I mentioned, some kind of narrative? I know I sound like a broken record; it's common sense," she added during the same broadcast.

None of this is a knock on what Miles has actually done.

Through her rookie campaign, Miles is averaging right around 20 points, 4.7 rebounds and 6.2 assists a night, shooting close to 50% from the field and better than 40% from three.

She earned an All-Star nod as a starter, the only rookie to do so this season. She's also become the fastest player in WNBA history to reach both the 500-point/150-assist and 650-point/200-assist thresholds.

What makes her case even harder to dismiss is the record attached to her team.

Minnesota sits at the top of the WNBA standings. And for a long stretch of the season, they got there without their best player, Napheesa Collier.

This is why a good part of the WNBA media, including former WNBA player Candace Parker, is backing Miles over everyone in the league.

"Olivia Miles is just on a whole another level. Leading the team without Napheesa Collier," Parker said in the Post Moves with Candace Parker & Aliyah Boston.

Collier missed 27 games this season while recovering from surgery on both ankles.

So, where does Clark's MVP case stand?

Cohn's argument isn't that Miles hasn't been good. It's that Clark has been better.

Clark is averaging 22 points and 8.3 assists a game this season, ranking among the league's top five in both categories, while moving Indiana to a top-three seed in the process.

And Cohn is not just picking Clark over Miles.

"I've been on that pedestal, on that podium, praising Caitlin Clark. If I had a vote, I would vote for her because nobody touches the ball more than her," Cohn said, per Yahoo! Sports and Linda Cohn on YouTube.

Explaining her argument, Cohn pointed out how much total production comes directly from Clark's hands every single night.

"I saw a stat that was remarkable in WNBA history, she creates either with her assists or her scoring 40 and a half points," Cohn said.

Cohn brings up Las Vegas Aces superstar A'ja Wilson's context to explain the difference.

"The offense goes through her. Caitlin does so much. I know A'ja Wilson; she's a machine, the stats are remarkable. It's not most stats per player; it's most valuable player," she added.

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Written by

Md Saife Fida