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A couple of weeks ago, Natasha Howard and Olivia Miles were announced as the Lynx’s All-Star starters, followed by Courtney Williams as a reserve. These were all well-deserved selections for Minnesota, but since the All-Star announcements, one player has risen even higher. Kayla McBride, at 34 years old, is having one of the best stretches of her career. She’s been playing even better than Williams and Howard recently; in fact, there are very few players playing as well as McBride.
Only A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Mitchell match her six-game 20-point streak. Through July, she is averaging 27.7 on 56/50/93 splits. This included a 37-point game, just a single point below her career high, that was among the best performances by any player this season so far. This is already impressive, without considering her strong defensive impact. With Napheesa Collier still injured, she is shouldering a greater defensive burden and excelling as a point-of-attack guard and wing defender on one of the league's best defenses. This incredible stretch has propelled the Lynx into a six-game winning streak. It also saw her pass her former teammate Becky Hammon as she cracked the top 20 total scorers in WNBA history.
Not only is she outplaying her competition for All-Star injury replacements, she’s even outplaying many named All-Stars. There should be at least one open spot for Kelsey Plum and probably a few more. You have to imagine she’s first in line. McBride is an electric and charismatic watch with her gritty, passionate play and her unbelievably accurate and fast three-pointer, exactly the energy the All-Star game feeds off. She also might even already be there. As the 3-point scoring leader amongst average players, it’d be a snub if she doesn’t get an invite to the 3-point contest.
Lynx are staying on top despite tired legs
Kayla McBride deserves an All-Star selection, but does she want one? While the Lynx remain the best team in the league, recently they haven’t been blowing teams out like they used to. They’ve lost their margin of error and have managed to win six games in a row while treading water. The defense in particular is slipping from the standard they set earlier in the season. Their defensive big three of McBride, Howard, and Nia Coffey are all in their 30s and seem a bit gassed. McBride has been going full throttle every day for the Lynx this month and would probably appreciate the break.
Kayla McBride is a selfless player, and maybe an All-Star snub will work in her favor to get her some very deserved rest.
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This article was originally published on highposthoops.com as Underrated two-way veteran is mercilessly exposing All-Star snub .
