an even larger margin<\/a> than that 2023 season).<\/p>\nHendricks: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n
It\u2019s a special year when three different people could reasonably win this award, and every one of them is a reasonable pick. A\u2019ja Wilson continues to show that when all is said and done, it\u2019s likely she will be the best player to have ever worn a WNBA uniform. Alyssa Thomas\u2019 versatility has helped the Mercury rise to the league\u2019s elite. Napheesa Collier made history with that 50\/40\/90 shooting season. In most years, each one of these women could have been a runaway winner.<\/p>\n
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But Collier\u2019s ability to lift her team, whether she is on the court or not, is what convinced me. She scored 22.9 points and grabbed 7.1 rebounds per game. When she was out with an injury, she continued to be a presence with her teammates. Minnesota is where they are \u2014 top seed with home court advantage throughout the playoffs \u2014 because of Collier. To me, that\u2019s an MVP.<\/p>\n
Rookie of the Year<\/p>\n
Negley: Sonia Citron, Washington Mystics<\/p>\n
Both Citron and Paige Bueckers entered their professional careers looking more like established veterans than rookies barely moved out of their college dorms. Despite Citron not being expected to contribute much for the Washington Mystics, she became one of the team\u2019s leading scorers and an All-Star in Year 1. Her Mystics were in playoff contention until late, ultimately falling short after the trade of Brittney Sykes. Citron leads rookies with a 44.5 3-point percentage and ranks second in scoring at 14.9 points per game.<\/p>\n
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Hendricks: Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings<\/p>\n
Coming into her first WNBA season, Bueckers had just won an NCAA title and was one of the biggest stars of UConn\u2019s championship. She had huge expectations waiting for her as the No. 1 pick in Dallas, and she smashed through those. She scored 19.5 points per game, ranking her fifth in the league among all players and first among rookies. Bueckers also led rookies in assists per game with 5.4. But the statistics don\u2019t tell the whole story, as Bueckers was able to hit these big numbers while her Wings dealt with a laundry list of injuries. She was steady as her team went through turmoil, and that\u2019s not easy for any player, especially a rookie.<\/p>\n
Defensive Player of the Year<\/p>\n
Negley: Alanna Smith, Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n
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With the exception of her third-best 1.9 blocks per game, Smith doesn\u2019t boast gaudy defensive stats. Yet, she\u2019s constantly standing tall for the league\u2019s best defense while being undersized as a center in this league. While missing reigning DPOY Naphessa Collier, Smith showcased how key she is to the Lynx defense in the regular-season series with New York.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlanna Smith is just incredible,\u201d Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve said during the stretch of August games against New York. \u201cYou don\u2019t come to a basketball game and go, \u2018that\u2019s not one of the best defensive players in the league.\u2019 She\u2019s just incredible in terms of how she impacts play, and what you have to think about when she\u2019s in your area.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hendricks: A\u2019ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just that Wilson has numbers, because she does. She leads the league in blocks per game with 2.3, and was second in rebounds per game with 10.2. Wilson is even in the top 10 in steals per game with 1.6. It\u2019s that she plays defense in a terrifying, dominant manner, making her opponents think twice about even passing the ball into the paint when she\u2019s on patrol. It\u2019s that her blocks are so emphatic that you can feel them from the highest row in the biggest arenas in the W. Wilson\u2019s defense is a delight to watch.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n
Natalie Nakase coached the expansion Golden State Valkyries to the playoffs in their first season. (Photo by Amanda Loman\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n
(Amanda Loman via Getty Images)Coach of the Year<\/p>\n
Negley: Natalie Nakase, Golden State Valkyries<\/p>\n
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Nakase has handled her first head coaching job with aplomb. Few believed an expansion team full of sixth- and seventh-players, sans a stellar free agency signing or a draft lottery pick, could compete for a playoff spot, let alone secure one. The Valkyries faced injuries and adversity, as did everyone else, and still defeated almost every other team in the league at least once. The defensive focus (99.6 rating is top-four) is the key.<\/p>\n
Atlanta Dream first-year head coach Karl Smesko came in a close second for Coach of the Year for a franchise record in wins and a resurgence to the top of the standings.<\/p>\n
Hendricks: Natalie Nakase, Golden State Valkyries<\/p>\n
In her first year as a head coach in the WNBA, Nakase was given an expansion roster full of players seen as role players. She quickly helped each player shine, and Kayla Thornton even earned her first trip to the All-Star Game. When Thornton went down with a season-ending injury at the end of July, Nakase and the Valkyries could have folded. Instead, they went 8-5 in August to clinch a playoff spot.<\/p>\n
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Sixth Player of the Year<\/p>\n
Negley: Natisha Hiedeman, Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n
Since Dream forward Naz Hillmon worked her way into the starting lineup over the season\u2019s final quarter, Hiedeman feels more of a natural fit for this award. The guard makes a significant impact as a microwave off the bench for the league\u2019s best offense. In multiple games down a ho-hum final stretch, Hiedeman hit dagger buckets and performed clutch plays to shift the momentum.<\/p>\n
Hendricks: Natisha Hiedeman, Minnesota Lynx<\/p>\n
The bench has been a huge part of the Lynx\u2019s success, as they cruised to the top seed in the WNBA playoffs with a record of 34-10. Hiedeman is the first off the bench for Minnesota, and leads all bench players in points (9.1 per game) and assists (2.8 per game). She has found her groove in Minnesota as one half of the StudBudz, and has shown in every game how her team can count on her.<\/p>\n
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Most Improved Player<\/p>\n
Negley: Veronica Burton, Golden State Valkyries<\/p>\n
The Northwestern alumna has come a long way in her game since performing spot duties on defense and being waived by the Wings in 2024. Her eight assists per 40 minutes rank fourth, she\u2019s more efficient inside the arc and she has three games of at least 10 assists with zero turnovers. Her growth leading the offense pushed the Valkyries to history.<\/p>\n
Hendricks: Kayla Thornton, Golden State Valkyries<\/p>\n
Yes, Thornton only played in half of her team\u2019s 44 games before she went down with a season-ending knee injury, but I cannot ignore the jump she made in those 22 games. After being known mostly for her defense in Washington, Dallas and New York, Thornton rounded out her game and jumped up in scoring, going from 5.5 to 14 points per game. She made her first All-Star Game in her 10th season in the league. She made a huge mark despite playing only half the season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WNBA awards season is upon us, and several of the major honors aren’t as clear-cut as they once…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":145882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[4662,24808,4652,732,6738,49,48,73383,3459,78004,1612,4660,3460,736,78005,729,9320,39661,4658,3461,4649,82,25737,737,630],"class_list":["post-145881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-aja-wilson","tag-alanna-smith","tag-alyssa-thomas","tag-atlanta-dream","tag-brittney-sykes","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cassandra-negley","tag-dallas-wings","tag-defensive-player-of-the-year","tag-golden-state-valkyries","tag-kayla-thornton","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-minnesota-lynx","tag-most-valuable-player","tag-napheesa-collier","tag-natisha-hiedeman","tag-naz-hillmon","tag-paige-bueckers","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-sonia-citron","tag-sports","tag-veronica-burton","tag-washington-mystics","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=145881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/145881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=145881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=145881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=145881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}