Olivia Miles recovered from an abysmal performance of 1-for-10 shooting against the Golden State Valkyries to score 22 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks against the Washington Mystics.

The type of comeback by a rookie player was not missed anywhere, even earning the attention of a basketball legend.

Taking to X on Sunday, 2008 NBA champion Kevin Garnett posted his verdict on the Minnesota Lynx guard without any hesitation. "Olivia Miles is one of the best rookies in ALL of basketball… @nba or @wnba 😤," Garnett wrote.

Such praise holds value considering where it was coming from. Garnett had 21 seasons of experience in the game, won an NBA championship title, was awarded league MVP, and played in 15 NBA All-Star games.

He also played for the Minnesota Timberwolves for 12 years, which means that he indeed has a real connection to the organization that Miles leads.

That accolade becomes all the more noteworthy considering the quality of this year’s NBA rookie crop. Cooper Flagg was named NBA Rookie of the Year despite Kon Knueppel’s better performance, and Dylan Harper led the San Antonio Spurs into the NBA Finals. Garnett’s tweet puts Miles among those players.

Those numbers back up her inclusion. Miles is averaging 18.3 points, 5.6 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals in 16 games, and she leads all of her rookie peers in both points and assists.

She is also the quickest player in WNBA history to tally up more than 300 points, 75 rebounds, and 75 assists, according to Real App.

With Napheesa Collier out due to an injury, Miles has stepped up in a big way for the Minnesota team, which leads the league with a 13-4 record.

Those numbers tell only part of the story, as Miles had to produce them in a game that ultimately slipped away from the Lynx in the fourth quarter.

Olivia Miles Leads Lynx With 22 Points but Washington Mystics Rally for 84-79 Win

Minnesota had a 76-70 lead at 2:30 left in the game as Miles completed a three-point play to round out a 7-0 run, but Washington had other plans.

Washington went on a 12-0 run as Cotie McMahon nailed a go-ahead three-pointer while Kiki Iriafen followed up with consecutive scores to give Washington an 82-76 lead. Sonia Citron then made four straight free throws in the last six seconds.

Citron ended with 21 points, shooting 6-of-13 from the field and hitting a step-back three at the start of the fourth quarter. Iriafen chipped in with 17 points, including the winning shot for the second consecutive game. McMahon came off the bench to score 15 points and dish out five assists.

Miles scored 22 points, and Natasha Howard added another 20 points for Minnesota. The Lynx, who are 13-4, take on Washington again on Wednesday.

Did Olivia Miles give Kevin Garnett enough reason to give her praise? Leave your comments below.

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Written by

Utsav Gupta

Edited by

Utsav Gupta