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NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2026 \u2013 Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese has been named the 2026 Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, the WNBA announced today. She wins the award for the first time and becomes the first Dream player to earn the honor.<\/p>\n
Reese received 46 votes from a national panel of 74 sportswriters and broadcasters. Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams finished in second place with 20 votes, followed by Las Vegas Aces center-forward A\u2019ja Wilson in third with four votes. Washington Mystics center Shakira Austin finished fourth with two votes, and Golden State guard Veronica Burton and Atlanta guard Rhyne Howard tied for fifth with one vote each.<\/p>\n
In her third WNBA season and first with the Dream, Reese ranked third in the WNBA in both steals per game (1.8) and total steals (77), setting career highs in both categories. She also finished third in total defensive rebounds (315) and led the league with 12.1 rebounds per game.<\/p>\n
Behind Reese, Atlanta ranked third in the WNBA in defensive rating (103.5). Her rebounding helped the Dream allow a league-low 9.5 second-chance points per game.<\/p>\n
Reese set WNBA single-season records with 521 total rebounds and 206 offensive rebounds, becoming the first player in league history to reach 500 rebounds in a season. She also grabbed a WNBA-record 26 rebounds in a road victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 24.<\/p>\n
The 6-4 Reese posted a WNBA single-season record of 32 double-doubles and was one of only two players to average a double-double this season. She averaged a career-high 16.4 points per game and earned her third consecutive WNBA All-Star selection.<\/p>\n
Reese closed the regular season by earning Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors in three consecutive weeks. She helped Atlanta finish 30-14 and secure the No. 4 seed in the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google Pixel. The Dream are set to host the No. 8-seeded New York Liberty in the Semifinals on Sunday, Oct. 4.<\/p>\n
In honor of being named the 2026 Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, Reese will receive $30,000 and a trophy designed to commemorate her achievement.<\/p>\n
Below are the voting results for the 2026 Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award and a list of past recipients of the annual honor.<\/p>\n
VOTING RESULTS: 2026 KIA WNBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD<\/p>\n
Player (Team)
\nVotes<\/p>\n
Angel Reese (Atlanta Dream)
\n46<\/p>\n
Gabby Williams (Golden State Valkyries)
\n20<\/p>\n
A\u2019ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)
\n4<\/p>\n
Shakira Austin (Washington Mystics)
\n2<\/p>\n
Veronica Burton (Golden State Valkyries)
\n1<\/p>\n
Rhyne Howard (Atlanta Dream)
\n1<\/p>\n
KIA WNBA DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS<\/p>\n
1997 \u2013 Teresa Weatherspoon, New York<\/p>\n
1998 \u2013 Teresa Weatherspoon, New York<\/p>\n
1999 \u2013 Yolanda Griffith, Sacramento<\/p>\n
2000 \u2013 Sheryl Swoopes, Houston<\/p>\n
2001 \u2013 Debbie Black, Miami<\/p>\n
2002 \u2013 Sheryl Swoopes, Houston<\/p>\n
2003 \u2013 Sheryl Swoopes, Houston<\/p>\n
2004 \u2013 Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
2005 \u2013 Tamika Catchings, Indiana<\/p>\n
2006 \u2013 Tamika Catchings, Indiana<\/p>\n
2007 \u2013 Lauren Jackson, Seattle<\/p>\n
2008 \u2013 Lisa Leslie, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
2009 \u2013 Tamika Catchings, Indiana<\/p>\n
2010 \u2013 Tamika Catchings, Indiana<\/p>\n
2011 \u2013 Sylvia Fowles, Chicago<\/p>\n
2012 \u2013 Tamika Catchings, Indiana<\/p>\n
2013 \u2013 Sylvia Fowles, Chicago<\/p>\n
2014 \u2013 Brittney Griner, Phoenix<\/p>\n
2015 \u2013 Brittney Griner, Phoenix<\/p>\n
2016 \u2013 Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota<\/p>\n
2017 \u2013 Alana Beard, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
2018 \u2013 Alana Beard, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
2019 \u2013 Natasha Howard, Seattle<\/p>\n
2020 \u2013 Candace Parker, Los Angeles<\/p>\n
2021 \u2013 Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota<\/p>\n
2022 \u2013 A\u2019ja Wilson, Las Vegas<\/p>\n
2023 \u2013 A\u2019ja Wilson, Las Vegas<\/p>\n
2024 \u2013 Napheesa Collier, Minnesota<\/p>\n
2025 \u2013 Alanna Smith, Minnesota (tie)<\/p>\n
2025 \u2013 A\u2019ja Wilson, Las Vegas (tie)<\/p>\n
2026 \u2013 Angel Reese, Atlanta<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
About Kia America<\/p>\n
Headquartered in Irvine, California, Kia America continues to top automotive quality surveys. Kia is recognized as one of the TIME World\u2019s Most Sustainable Companies of 2026. Kia serves as the \u201cOfficial Automotive Partner\u201d of the NBA and WNBA and offers a range of gasoline, hybrid, plug-in hybrid, and electric vehicles sold through a network of nearly 800 dealers in the U.S., including several SUVs proudly assembled in America*.<\/p>\n
For media information, including photography, visit www.kiamedia.com<\/a>. To receive custom email notifications for press releases the moment they are published, subscribe at www.kiamedia.com\/us\/en\/newsalert<\/a><\/p>\n * The 2026 and 2027 all-electric EV6 and EV9 all-electric three-row SUV, Sportage (excluding PHEV model), Sorento (excludes HEV and PHEV models), and Telluride are assembled in the United States from U.S. and globally sourced parts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK, Oct. 1, 2026 \u2013 Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese has been named the 2026 Kia WNBA…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":882109,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":["post-882108","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\/882108","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=882108"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/882108\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/882109"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=882108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=882108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=882108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}