The WNBA is entering the stretch run, which means debate about the league awards is in high gear, too.
The MVP race still appears to be wrapped up by the brilliant play of the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson, but there is a little more discussion now about other candidates.
The Rookie of the Year race has prompted endless social media commentary, which ultimately is another sign of the WNBA’s growth in popularity. And the bottom line is both the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and the Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese are doing historic things this summer.
Should Coach of the Year go to the team with the best record or a team that has exceeded expectations? And when it comes to awards such as Most Improved, voters can go — and have in the past gone — in a lot of different directions.
Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel cast their votes to determine ESPN’s picks and top challengers for now.
MVP
Front-runner: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
With less than a month remaining in the regular season, the outstanding question likely isn’t whether Wilson will win the 2024 MVP award but whether she’ll win it unanimously. Where would the 18-11 Aces be without Wilson’s historic season? She’s on track to post the top season-long scoring average in league history (26.6 PPG) while shooting 51.2% from the field. Wilson also recently recorded her eighth game this summer with 15-plus points and 15-plus rebounds, a single-season WNBA record.
She also ranks second in the league in rebounding (11.9 RPG), first in blocks (2.7 BPG) and tied for third in steals (2.0 SPG). And her game-winning buzzer-beater off a Chelsea Gray inbounds pass Sunday against Chicago was a signature moment only further cementing her case.
Top challenger: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Collier’s play since the WNBA resumed — combined with the Aces’ struggles — might be spectacular enough to prompt some voters to think twice in their MVP voting. In a season where Wilson wasn’t so historically dominant, Collier would likely have been the MVP front-runner. She has elevated her game to another level since the Olympics, averaging 25.6 points per game on 66.2% shooting (42.1% on 3-pointers) and leading the red-hot Lynx to a 5-0 record in August. The run includes a pair of wins over the Aces, including Friday’s 27-point, 18-board effort where she shot 73.3% from the field and outrebounded the entire Las Vegas team.
If Collier and the Lynx manage to climb the standings and clinch a top-two seed, the MVP conversation could get more interesting. — Philippou
Rookie of the Year
Front-runner: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
During Clark’s senior season at Iowa, it became hard to keep track of all the NCAA and Big Ten records she was breaking. There was some kind of history made virtually every game. We’ve reached that point in Clark’s WNBA rookie season, too. She has set the record for most assists in a season by a rookie and is on pace to break the overall record. Clark has 21 games with at least 15 points and five assists this season, more than any WNBA player ever has. With her next 3-pointer, Clark — now with 85 — will have the most treys ever by a rookie.
Clark is averaging 18.0 points, a league-best 8.2 assists, as well as 5.8 rebounds and 1.4 steals, while shooting 41.4% from the field. Clark also leads the league in turnovers (164), although some of that can be attributed to how much she handles the ball. While it’s an area she will continue to work to improve, Clark’s season so far has been all that the Fever could have hoped for to help them return to the playoffs.
Top challenger: Angel Reese, Chicago Sky
Just as Clark has done things no WNBA rookie previously ever has, Reese is making history, too. She has 22 double-doubles, tied with Tina Charles (2010) for the rookie record. Reese also set the overall record earlier this season for consecutive double-doubles (15).
Reese is currently on an unprecedented streak of three consecutive games with 20 or more rebounds. No previous WNBA player had ever had two 20-rebound games in a row. Reese is averaging 13.5 points and 12.9 rebounds.
There is some discussion about how Reese’s shooting percentage (38.7) has impacted her rebounding. To put it in context, Reese currently has 53 of her 374 rebounds off her own missed shots. While that is the most of any WNBA player, she would still be averaging 11.1 RPG even if you subtracted those 53 rebounds. — Voepel
Coach of the Year
Front-runner: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
Minnesota was ninth in ESPN’s preseason Power Rankings, based mostly on uncertainty about how all the pieces would fit together. It took only a week for the Lynx to climb up the rankings and never look back. In June, they won the Commissioner’s Cup final over New York. Reeve has had a busy summer coaching the Olympic team to a gold medal and guiding the Lynx into championship contention.
Collier has been fantastic. Players such as Kayla McBride, Bridget Carleton and Alanna Smith are having career-best performances, and Courtney Williams also has excelled. Reeve has said this team has the type of chemistry her four championship teams did, and it shows in how the Lynx play.
Top challengers
Sandy Brondello, New York Liberty: Almost all prognosticators picked New York as a strong title contender. But Brondello still had to guide this team, deal with some injuries and absences, and help the Liberty excel despite the pressure of being favorites. She has done just that, with New York having a league-best 26-5 record. Brondello has the perfect personality to get the best out of this high-achieving group, and like Reeve she also did double-duty at the Olympics, guiding Australia to the bronze medal.
Stephanie White, Connecticut Sun: White was Coach of the Year last season, but she deserves mention again. The Sun have gotten strong performances by the players we expect — vets Alyssa Thomas, DeWanna Bonner and Brionna Jones — but also from younger players such as DiJonai Carrington. Adding Marina Mabrey to the mix via trade has been big, too, and White has Connecticut in title contention once again. — Voepel
Defensive Player of the Year
Front-runner: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
If Collier doesn’t get MVP, winning Defensive Player of the Year wouldn’t be a bad consolation. A two-time all-defensive second team selection, Collier is averaging 9.7 defensive boards, 2.1 steals and 1.2 blocks per game this summer as the anchor of one of the league’s elite defensive units. According to Second Spectrum, Collier holds opponents to an effective field goal percentage of 39.94% as their closest defender, the best rate for any player in the league (minimum 100 shot attempts).
Top challengers
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces: Then again, the two-time reigning DPOY has a case for three-peating, though it remains to be seen whether the Aces’ poor defense as a team — Las Vegas is tied for fifth in defensive rating this season — will sway voters in a different direction. Nonetheless, as the world saw at the Paris Olympics, Wilson is one of the premier defenders in the world inside the paint, ranking in the top five in the league in opponent field goal percentage inside the restricted area at 50.85 effective field goal percentage (minimum 80 attempts). The top five also includes Collier, Ezi Magbegor, Breanna Stewart and Natasha Mack.
Ezi Magbegor, Seattle Storm: The Aussie star known for her excellent rim protection might have not earned an All-Star nod this year — an omission Pelton’s metrics found to be historically egregious — but she’s integral to the Storm, whose defensive rating is a team-best 5.0 points per 100 possessions better with her on the court than off it. When it comes to counting stats, Magbegor is also averaging 6.0 defensive rebounds per game to go along with 2.3 blocks and 1.3 steals per contest. — Philippou
Sixth Player of the Year
Front-runner: Leonie Fiebich, New York Liberty
Los Angeles Sparks guard Odyssey Sims, who spent the first month-plus out of the WNBA, is the only eligible candidate for Sixth Player averaging double-figure scoring this season. That could result in voters honoring a key role player on the league’s best team for a second consecutive year. Like 2023 winner Alysha Clark, Fiebich is a versatile perimeter defender who contributes offensively by spacing the floor. Fiebich is hitting 38% of her 3s and has filled in well as a starter for injured Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, who returned Monday and came off the bench to play 27 minutes. Fiebich has started 13 of 31 games, below the 50% of games as a reserve needed for eligibility.
Top challenger: Tiffany Hayes, Las Vegas Aces
With Clark starting more frequently this season (14 of 29 games), Hayes has been the Aces’ top reserve much of the year. Having previously started all but seven games she played since 2014, Hayes has adapted well to a bench role, ranking fourth in scoring (8.8 points per game) for Las Vegas. — Pelton
Most Improved Player
Front-runner: DiJonai Carrington, Connecticut Sun
The Sun’s backcourt identity might have been a question mark entering 2024, but Carrington has grown into an All-Star-caliber player. Coach White was looking for her young star to show consistency as she assumed a full-time starting role, and that’s exactly what Carrington has done in her fourth season in Connecticut. Starting in the season opener against Caitlin Clark and the Fever, Carrington announced herself as one of the best perimeter defenders in the league and as one of the Sun’s top offensive options. Carrington, who can be impossible to stop going downhill in transition, has also proven herself as a strong rebounding guard, recording her first career double-double earlier this year against Phoenix.
Top challenger: Chennedy Carter, Chicago Sky
Carter was initially a shoo-in for Sixth Player of the Year, until she was inserted into the starting lineup for good by Sky coach Teresa Weatherspoon. Most Improved Player is an award where voters might adapt differing philosophies, and some could argue that Carter’s production this season is more a product of her finally seeing the court in a sizable role after things didn’t work out previously with the Dream and Sparks.
Nonetheless, Carter’s ability to find a home with Chicago this season has paid dividends for both parties: She is the Sky’s leading scorer at 17.2 points per game (on 50.0% shooting), and her lightning-quick first-step and nifty handles has reminded the basketball world why she was considered a top prospect when she was initially drafted in 2020. — Philippou
All-WNBA First Team (consensus)
A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Breanna Stewart, New York Liberty
Alyssa Thomas, Connecticut Sun
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
All-WNBA Second Team
Caitlin Clark*, Indiana Fever
Jonquel Jones*, New York Liberty
Kayla McBride, Minnesota Lynx
Nneka Ogwumike*, Seattle Storm
Jackie Young, Las Vegas Aces Aces
Also receiving votes: Kahleah Copper, Ezi Magbegor
* indicates consensus pick
