Lynx’s Alanna Smith shares WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award with A’ja Wilson

Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore inducted into Naismith Hall of Fame

The Minnesota Lynx’s Alanna Smith was voted WNBA Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday, sharing the award with Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson.

Each player received 29 votes from the 72 media members who participated. It’s the first time the award, first given out in the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997, went to more than one player. 

The Lynx led the WNBA with 97.5 points per 100 possessions. Smith was second in combined steals and blocks with 135 and third in average blocks with 1.9 and total blocks with 80, both career highs. The total blocks set a franchise record for the Lynx.

Minnesota held opponents to 76.7 points per game on 42.3% shooting.

She is the second Minnesota player in a row to at least share this award. Napheesa Collier was voted the league’s top defensive player in 2024, making the Lynx the first team to have two different players win the award in consecutive seasons.

Wilson, who also won the award in 2022 and 2023, tied Sheryl Swoopes for the third-highest number of times capturing top defensive player. Tamika Catchings owns the record with five and Sylvia Fowles is next with four, two of which she won with Minnesota.

Wilson led the league with 2.3 blocks per game, was third with 7.9 defensive rebounds per game and finished fourth with an average of 1.6 steals.

Wilson and Collier are the front-runners for MVP, so whether the defensive player voting was any kind of harbinger for what could be a close vote remains to be seen. That award will be announced Sunday.

The Lynx captured the top seed for the playoffs, and the Aces were second. The Lynx dispatched the Golden State Valkyries in the first round and await their second-round opponent.

Wilson and Smith were far ahead of the others in votes for top defender. Seattle’s Gabby Williams was third with nine votes, Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas had three and Collier two.