NEW YORK (AP) — A’ja Wilson is in a class of her own, winning the AP WNBA Player of the Year award for an unprecedented third straight year.
Wilson received 15 of 17 first-place votes from a national media panel on Sunday. She dominated Minnesota’s Olivia Miles as well as Indiana’s Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell, all of whom had breakout seasons.
“It’s big. It’s an honor for me to do it three times in a row. It’s not easy,” Wilson said in a telephone interview. “My counterparts in this league are really good. I don’t take it lightly because of the talent we have in this league.”
This is Wilson’s fourth time winning the AP award, breaking a tie with Breanna Stewart for most since the awards were first presented in 2016.
“That sounds good,” Wilson said. “It’s pretty cool.”
AP voting is conducted by a 17-member panel that votes on the power poll each week. This is the 11th year of the awards.
The WNBA will announce its postseason awards during the postseason, which begins Sunday. Wilson is a heavy favorite to win the WNBA MVP for the third straight season.
Wilson once again led the league in scoring (26.2) while shooting nearly 53% from the field. She also averaged 9.4 rebounds, a career-high 3.2 assists and 1.9 blocks.
Angel Reese dethroned Wilson as AP Defensive Player of the Year. Wilson had won the award in three of the last four seasons.
Reese made the most of his move to Atlanta this offseason. She finished third in the league in steals and had the versatility to guard most positions defensively. She also led the league in rebounds for the third straight season.
Miles had an incredible freshman season and was honored as the AP Rookie of the Year as a unanimous choice. The No. 2 pick in the draft by the Lynx averaged 19.8 points, 6.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds to help Minnesota finish with the best record in the league. She set the WNBA record for points by a rookie, surpassing Clark’s 2024 record.
Miles was joined on the AP All-Rookie team by Dallas’ Azzi Fudd, Chicago’s Sydney Taylor, Seattle’s Flau’jae Johnson, New York’s Pauline Astier and Toronto’s Kiki Rice.
Wilson, Clark, Miles and Mitchell headlined the AP All-WNBA first team. They were joined by Stewart from New York. Reese was on the second team with teammate Rhyne Howard, Dallas’ Paige Bueckers, Las Vegas’ Jackie Young and Golden State’s Gabby Williams.
Other AP winners include:
— Coach of the Year: Cheryl Reeve. This is the third time the Lynx coach has won the award, having also been honored in 2020 and 2024. She guided the team to the top seed in the playoffs while missing superstar Napheesa Collier for the first half of the season when she recovered from surgery on both ankles during the offseason. Reeve defeated Natalie Nakase of Golden State and Sydney Johnson of Washington.
— Comeback Player of the Year: Clark. The Fever goalkeeper missed much of last season due to various injuries. She came back strong this year, playing 40 matches. She averaged 22.3 points, 8.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds. Georgia Amoore of Washington and Courtney Vandersloot of Chicago also received votes.
— Most Improved Player: Jessica Shepard. The Dallas Wings forward came to the team as a free agent and has excelled. Shepard had career highs in points (14.5), rebounds (11.1), assists (5.3) and minutes (31.7). Shepard has six triple-doubles this season. Shakira Austin of Washington and Dominique Malonga of Seattle were next in the ballot.
— Sixth woman of the year: Janelle Salaun. The Valkyries forward came off the bench in all 40 games she played this season and averaged 12.7 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 39.2 percent from behind the 3-point line. She led all reserves in scoring this season and Golden State’s bench averaged more than 36 points per game. Marine Johannes of New York was next in voting.
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