For Myisha Hines-Allen and Napheesa Collier, a reunion three years in the making

It was a jam-packed 24 hours in the wake of the WNBA trade deadline for the former-Mystic turned Lynx — and Minnesota’s newest player made it look easy. 

“I found out after shootaround [with the Mystics],” Hines-Allen said to reporters during her first in-person media availability in Minnesota. “Clare called me and was like, ‘would you want to come to Vegas?’ I’m like, ‘sure!’ Just the possibility of winning a game again, that triggered me to hop on the plane … So I just got a suitcase and then that’s it.” 

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Bally Sports North’s Lea B. Olsen remarked on how comfortable Hines-Allen looked in her Lynx debut, coming off the bench to score eight points and grab four rebounds with starting center Alanna Smith in foul trouble. 

“That is surprising, everyone is saying [that I looked comfortable] and I’m thinking to myself like I was a chicken with my head cut off just running around,” Hines-Allen added with a laugh.

Hines-Allen may have been wearing a Lynx uniform for the first time in that game against the Las Vegas Aces on Aug. 21, and while she is playing with most of her new teammates for the first time, her shared history with Minnesota’s most important player has helped Hines-Allen make a smooth transition to the organization. 

“Once I found out it was Minnesota, I was like it’s God’s timing,” Hines-Allen said. “During free agency three years ago, I was really interested in coming here. I was ready to come here. To play with Phee again because I played with her in France. I was super excited about it [then] but it didn’t work out. So now, just getting the opportunity to be a part of this organization, it’s just God’s timing honestly. I’m excited.”

Hines-Allen shared the floor with Lynx franchise player, co-captain and the Western Conference Player of the Month for August, Napheesa Collier for French club Lattes Montpellier in 2021 and won that season’s French Cup. 

“I’m really excited. I’ve wanted to play with her here for years,” Collier said. “She re-signed with Washington [three years ago], I was like ‘Why’d you do that?!’ but it worked out in the end. I’m really excited to have [Myisha] as my teammate again. I think she’s an extremely hard worker. I think she fits into our team perfectly personality-wise, in the way that she’s going to do whatever it takes to win.”

Hines-Allen’s fit with the team may have made her a target of the Lynx when she was a restricted free agent at the same time she was starring alongside Collier in Montpellier ahead of the 2021 WNBA season. Just like an old, favorite hat, the fit is just as good three years later. 

“She knows how to play,” Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve said. “She’s going to make the right read, make the simple play, having played [in Washington, D.C.] for Mike [Thibault] for a number of years and then Eric [Thibault], the system that they played in, Myisha is well-versed in being the top of the offense in a five out situation, making plays, making reads — and they relied heavily on her ability to do that. Through the years we’ve watched how she was used and adding her to a group that already does that, it should be a seamless step for us.” 

The winning ways forged between Collier and Hines-Allen in Montpellier have continued in Minnesota, who are 5-1 since reuniting Collier with her French club teammate. That foundation has been an important piece of Hines-Allen finding early success with her new team. 

‘Reunion’ is a French word, after all.

“It’s super important,” Hines-Allen said. “[Napheesa] is the franchise player. Just to be able to already kind of know where she likes the ball, [even though] it’s been awhile since we played with each other. She’s a phenomenal person too. That makes it easier. She’s able to talk to me, the communication’s a lot easier, and I’m not just becoming her friend now. [Kayla McBride] too. I met her this offseason when we both played in Turkey. 

“Building that relationship with players who are so important to this organization already, it makes it a lot easier. It’s not like I’m making new friends [with them], I already know them, we’re already friends, so it makes it a lot easier.”

It’s safe to say the feeling from her old and now current teammate is a mutual one. 

“She’s a force,” Collier said. “So I’m really happy she’s a Lynx now and I hope we have many seasons together.”