Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles gained a new fan in NBA legend Kevin Garnett despite her team’s 84-79 loss to the Washington Mystics on Sunday. Miles led Minnesota with 22 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.
The phenom’s standout performance earned her a major shoutout from the 2008 NBA champion and an appreciation post.
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Kevin Garnett Raves About Lynx Rookie Olivia Miles After Stellar Start to WNBA Career
On Friday, Miles struggled against the Golden State Valkyries. The No. 2 pick of the 2026 WNBA Draft tallied 7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and 3 blocks, but tied a career high with 6 turnovers.
She shot 1-for-10, including 0-for-4 from deep.
The former Notre Dame and TCU star shrugged off the forgettable performance in her following game.
After receiving flak for the disappointing display against Golden State, Miles gave another standout outing vs. Washington, prompting Garnett to tweet: “Olivia Miles is one of the best rookies in ALL of basketball… @nba or @wnba.”
The message from Garnett was quite the praise, considering how the 2025-26 NBA rookies debuted. Cooper Flagg, Dylan Harper, VJ Edgecombe, Kon Knueppel, and Ace Bailey, the top five picks, all had noteworthy seasons as first-year pros.
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Flagg won the tightly contested race for Rookie of the Year honors over Knueppel. Harper showed he could be one of the biggest stars by helping the San Antonio Spurs reach the NBA Finals.
Miles, though, has separated herself from her rookie competitors in the WNBA by a healthy margin. She leads them in points (18.5), assists (5.6), and is second in rebounds (4.9) per game.
Nobody in her class has had a more well-rounded and productive impact.
More importantly, the rookie’s stats have had a significant impact on the Lynx, who have been without franchise cornerstone Napheesa Collier.
Despite missing the injured Collier and fielding a revamped roster, Minnesota’s 13-4 record is the best in the WNBA.
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Garnett wasn’t the only one who gave Miles her flowers on Sunday, as Real App also highlighted that she became “the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 300+ points, 75+ rebounds, and 75+ assists.”
Miles wasn’t faultless, though.
She committed a costly turnover, a pass that hit no one while the Lynx trailed 77-76 with 19.3 seconds remaining.
According to ESPN Insights, she also went 1-for-5 and had 2 errors in the final five minutes.
Despite being a rookie, Miles readily accepted the blame for the turnovers and the loss, saying, “Yeah, the play was for Nia [Coffey]… but a miscommunication there, that’s on me. I’ll be better, obviously not blaming anyone but myself…”
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That accountability is perhaps another reason Garnett has been so impressed with Miles, as he admires players who are mentally strong and can lead by example.
Miles will have a chance to bounce back when the Lynx take on Washington in a rematch on Wednesday at CareFirst Arena.
