The surprising announcement that Caitlin Clark will miss at least two weeks with a leg injury had a big impact on the WNBA MVP gambling odds.
Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier is now the odds-on favorite to win the award. At Hard Rock, she is -170 (meaning bet $170 to win $100), and Clark still has the second-best odds at +260 (meaning bet $100 to win $260). Before Clark’s injury, Collier was favored, but the two were in the same relative vicinity in the mid +100 range.
Collier is leading the league with 29.5 points per game—Kelsey Plum is the next highest at 24.8—and is also averaging 7.3 rebounds per game this season. Earlier this month, Collier announced a new endorsement deal with Nike’s Jordan brand. She is also the cofounder of the upstart Unrivaled 3-on-3 league, which competes in the WNBA offseason.
Coming off a loss in the WNBA Finals to the New York Liberty, the Lynx have started the season 4–0.
Elsewhere in the WNBA MVP odds, A’ja Wilson—who was MVP in 2020, 2022, and 2024—is +650, Plum and Breanna Stewart are both +6000, and Sabrina Ionescu and Satou Sabally are both +7500.
Monday, the Indiana Fever announced Clark would be out a minimum of two weeks after sustaining a left quadricep strain. Given how much Clark means to the WNBA’s business, even a short absence has a major effect. Secondary-market ticket prices for road games against the Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky, which had been moved to NBA arenas to accommodate all the fan demand to see Clark’s games, have already fallen by 71%.
The Fever also have home games against the Sun and Mystics on the docket in the coming two-week stretch.
