\n<\/p>\n
For dedicated WNBA<\/a> fans, every morning begins with the same question: what did Olivia Miles do this time? A no-look pass through three defenders? A crossover that sends another grown woman staggering out of frame? Statue of Liberty layups launched from angles that flout Euclidean geometry? You just never know with this wonder woman. The rush she gives fans makes a double espresso feel like a nightcap.<\/p>\n No player in the WNBA has brought more<\/a> joy<\/a> to the season\u2019s opening month than Miles, who has quickly emerged as one of the league\u2019s most compelling talents. Fifteen games into her professional career, the 23-year-old North Jersey native has already established herself as the engine of the Minnesota Lynx offense, pacing the team in average scoring (19.0) and assists (5.7) while sinking more than half her shot attempts. In a 99-83 <\/strong>road win against <\/strong>a short-handed Los Angeles Sparks team on Wednesday night, Miles poured in a season-best 31 points on a blistering 80% percent shooting in just 26 minutes.<\/p>\n Miles\u2019s splashy breakout hasn\u2019t merely put her in the same must-see conversation as Caitlin Clark. It\u2019s made her indispensable to a Lynx team who have been missing their best player, Napheesa Collier, since last September \u2013 and sit atop the league standings anyway. It\u2019s made Cheryl Reeve look like a genius for selecting Miles with the second pick in this year\u2019s draft. \u201cI\u2019m not gonna sit here and say that we knew from day one that she\u2019d be a top-three player in the league,\u201d the Minnesota coach said after another Miles masterclass against Portland<\/a>. \u201cBut it\u2019s like when we got Maya Moore \u2013 the perfect superstar, a humble superstar.\u201d<\/p>\n There are worse compliments a rookie can receive than being compared to the greatest player in franchise history and, arguably, the best woman to ever lace \u2019em up<\/a>. But whereas Moore entered the league with undeniable swagger and championship pedigree from near-perfect high school and college careers, Miles is less Wonder Woman than Diana Prince \u2013 the tweedy alter ego Lynda Carter<\/a> made famous. At 5ft 10in, Miles is a mite small compared to the current crop of WNBA point guards. And yet she\u2019s impossible to miss with her chunky goggles and luxuriant afro, looking for all the world like a time-traveling racquetball hustler. Lynx fans have taken to calling Miles \u201cThe Spectacle\u201d \u2013 as much for style as substance.<\/p>\n