​WNBA rookies to win MVP: How Olivia Miles’ Year 1 stats compare to Candace Parker’s legendary first season originally appeared on The Sporting News.
Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.There’s a youth movement happening in the WNBA. Olivia Miles is arguably one of its biggest actors.The Lynx guard has surged into MVP contention in recent months, using her eye-catching play-making skills and steady scoring to lead Minnesota to the best record in the league. Miles finds herself dancing with ghosts at this point in the year — not only is she the odds-on favorite to win Rookie of the Year, but she finds herself in MVP contention.In the WNBA’s long and checkered history, only a few first-year talents have had their names thrust into MVP talks. A’ja Wilson averaged 20.7 points and 8.0 rebounds as a rookie. All she could muster was a measly seventh-place finish. Caitlin Clark set a gaggle of records in her first season. Still, she failed to land a first-place vote.Miles’ performances have her wading in territory not typically available for newcomers. Here’s a look at who she could join in the WNBA record books if she picks up the famous honor.MORE: Where Olivia Miles’ 2026 ranks among best rookie seasons in WNBA historyWNBA rookies to win MVPCynthia Cooper and Yolanda Griffith captured MVP honors in their first seasons in the WNBA. But it’s hard to consider them real rookies. Cooper was 34 when she hoisted her first MVP in the league’s inaugural season, having already charted a Hall of Fame-worthy career for club and country. Griffith, meanwhile, was 29 at the time of her MVP triumph, a basketball veteran who initially spurned W interest to play in Europe and with a rival U.S. league.As far as true rookies go, only one has managed to scoop up the MVP in their debut season: Candace Parker.The former Sparks and Sky standout took the league by storm in her first year in 2008, leading Los Angeles to the postseason for the first time in three years while posting averages of 18.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists. She held off Lindsay Whalen and Sue Bird to pick up the prize, the first of two she would receive in her career.MORE: Why two male WNBA fans were removed from Fever game over courtside incident with Jackie YoungRevisiting Candace Parker’s rookie yearThe Sparks selected Parker as their No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft, anointing her the heiress apparent to an aging Lisa Leslie. Parker immediately shined in Sparks colors, recording 34 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in her WNBA debut against the Mercury.Less than two weeks later, Parker became the first — and to date, only — WNBA player to post a 5×5 game, tallying 16 points, 16 rebounds, five blocks, five assists and five steals in a Los Angeles loss against the Fever.The hits kept coming for Parker, who became the second woman to dunk in a regulation WNBA game (after Leslie) in a June win over Indiana. One game later, Parker threw down anot