{"id":127957,"date":"2025-09-02T19:42:04","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:42:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/127957\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T19:42:04","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T19:42:04","slug":"mercurys-alyssa-thomas-the-league-mvp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/127957\/","title":{"rendered":"Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas: The League MVP?"},"content":{"rendered":"

With the WNBA season starting to wind down, it\u2019s time to take a serious look at the MVP discussion. And oh, what a coincidence, the Mercury<\/a> have a player who slots right into the conversation, and her name is Alyssa Thomas. Some flashier names such as Minnesota\u2019s Napheesa Collier or Las Vegas\u2019s A\u2019ja Wilson are getting the majority of the headlines, but let\u2019s not get it twisted. Thomas belongs at the table with those two, and perhaps should even be heading it.<\/p>\n

On the season, Thomas is averaging a 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds and 9.2 assists for the year, pretty darn close to a triple-double (which we\u2019ll get to later on). In part due to her contributions, the Mercury<\/a> sit third in the West and fourth overall in a tight battle for the second seed in the playoffs. Best player on one of the best teams? Certainly a qualifier for MVP.<\/p>\n

\"OhItsAT\"Aug 22, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) reacts after getting called for a foul against the Golden State Valkyries in the first half at Footprint Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Playmaker<\/p>\n

Alyssa Thomas is certifiably not a point guard. But much in a similar vein to other supersized playmakers, the Mercury offense runs through Thomas and largely has wherever she\u2019s played. She\u2019s the first player in WNBA history to have 300+ assists in three consecutive seasons<\/a>, is the first player in WNBA history with five 15-assist games (previous record was three), and is on pace to record the record for most assists in a season in WNBA history. <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Currently, Thomas leads the league in total assists and per game. Her 31 assists are most in a two-game stretch against the Valkyries and Sparks are the most in WNBA history too. For extra measure, she owns the single season Mercury record for assists now too.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m happy that she finally got the franchise record, because I think she\u2019s had 15 (assists) two or three times,\u201d coach Nate Tibbetts said after Thomas set the Mercury\u2019s single game assists record with 16 against Golden State. \u201cI mean, what she does at both ends for us is special. I\u2019m glad that she took a chance on coming here to Phoenix, and I\u2019m really happy for her that she\u2019s having such a great year.\u201d<\/p>\n

As of now, she currently sits at 314 assists, tied for 4th most in a season with Courtney Vandersloot and behind only herself and Caitlin Clark who set the all-time record last season (337). Right now she\u2019s just 23 behind that all-time record. All she needs to do over the remaining five games is average 4.6 assists per game. It\u2019s certainly doable given her season average and the fact it\u2019s below her career average.<\/p>\n

Thomas is also currently on pace to become the first player in WNBA history to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 9+ assists and 1+ steals while shooting 50%+ from the field. The only NBA players to have done so? LeBron James, Magic Johnson and Nikola Joki\u0107, all of whom have at least three MVPs to their names.<\/p>\n

\"ATAug 28, 2025; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese (5) fouls Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) in the first half at Phx Arena. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Triple-Doubles<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one thing to record a double-double. It may not happen every night, but a betting person would feel comfortable that it\u2019ll happen in a game. The triple-double though, that\u2019s a different story. If you\u2019re mainly a follower of the NBA, you\u2019re likely a bit numb to the triple-double. They happen seemingly every night by at least one player, and guys like Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic seem like they have one every game. <\/p>\n

But with the NBA game being eight minutes longer than a WNBA one, it makes it much easier for the men\u2019s game to record this statistical feat. It\u2019s why what Thomas is doing for the Mercury is so special. This season Thomas has recorded seven triple-doubles. While it took until July 7 for Thomas to get her first as a member of the Mercury, she hasn\u2019t slowed down since, gathering six more on the season to match her career-high from 2023.<\/p>\n

Seven triple-doubles might not seem like any sort of absurd number by itself. Remember though, the next closest is four\u2026 for an entire career, which belongs to New York\u2019s Sabrina Ionescu. On her career, Thomas has 17 triple-doubles, accounting for 39% of all of them in WNBA history! It\u2019s absurd and sounds like MVP stuff to me. The Mercury are also undefeated when Thomas records a triple-double.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think she\u2019s just too tough to guard,\u201d teammate Kahleah Copper said. \u201cShe can score. You really want to take away her vision because she can pass, and then it\u2019s just a matchup problem every night. It just makes it so much easier for us, like, we don\u2019t have to force it. She can just make plays, I can just be off the ball, like, it makes it just so much easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"USATSIJul 16, 2025; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) goes to the basket against the Minnesota Lynx in the fourth quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Defense<\/p>\n

Over the years, Thomas has become one of the most well-respected defenders in the WNBA. With three top-3 Defensive Player of the Year finishes and six All-Defensive Team awards to her name, it\u2019s no wonder she\u2019s regularly matched up with the opposing team\u2019s best players every night. The defensive heartbeat of the Mercury, Thomas blends physical tools with an intelligence on that end of the floor unmatched by many of her rivals. <\/p>\n

This year she\u2019s averaging 1.6 steals a night and on her career has never averaged less than one per game aside from 2021 when she appeared in just three games. Thomas can anticipate plays before they develop and it serves her well in playing passing lanes or preventing drives to the hoop.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo one impacts the game on both ends more,\u201d teammate Sami Whitcomb said. \u201cShe\u2019s the biggest part of why we win every single night. Most consistent, she\u2019s the MVP.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Mercury are keen to playing at a fast pace, and Thomas\u2019 defense is key to getting the team out and running. Whether it\u2019s through forcing a turnover, altering shots or grabbing a defensive rebound, Thomas is always looking to ignite a fast break for some easy points. In an age of basketball defined by elite scorers, Thomas is the rare entity who can provide on both ends of the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s three great candidates, or three great players,\u201d Tibbetts said. \u201cThe thing that I love about AT is she does it at both ends. You could argue that the other two do it also, but what she\u2019s done for us defensively is special. AT does it in a different way, right? She doesn\u2019t do it with the scoring, so her numbers, her scoring average isn\u2019t high, but she does it with assists, and she does it with her rebounding. <\/p>\n

\u201cObviously, coaches are always going to push their players. I think she\u2019s been overlooked this year. She\u2019s probably been overlooked her whole career when it comes to the MVP-type race, but she knows how important she is to us. She knows how important she is to the Valley and how much we appreciate her, and she\u2019s just a special, special talent, and we\u2019re all lucky to be watching her each and every game.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the WNBA season starting to wind down, it\u2019s time to take a serious look at the MVP…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":127958,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-127957","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-sports","tag-wnba"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127957","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=127957"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/127957\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/127958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=127957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=127957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=127957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}