WNBA star A’ja Wilson unanimously wins the MVP award
Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson unanimously took home the MVP award.
Sport in Seriousness
(This story has been updated to add new information.)
In 28 years of WNBA, no player has ever led the league in points, rebounds and blocks in the same season.
A’ja Wilson changed that in 2024, when the Las Vegas Aces forward posted a league-best total of 1,021 points, 451 rebounds and 98 blocks, proving her dominance throughout the season in sensational fashion. As the league announced on Sunday, the 28-year-old won her third MVP title – this time unanimously.
Wilson received all 67 first-place votes. Napheesa Collier of the Minnesota Lynx received 66 of the 67 second-place votes. She was followed by Breanna Stewart (295 points), Caitlin Clark (130 points) and Alyssa Thomas (83 points).
Before Wilson, only one other MVP in league history had won all the votes: in 1997, Cynthia Cooper was chosen first out of 37 votes.
The award is the latest addition to Wilson’s glittering resume, which led the American women to an unprecedented eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal in August. Widely regarded as the best player in the world on both ends of the court, Wilson was also named the Most Valuable Player of the Olympic basketball tournament in Paris.
Only three other players in WNBA history – Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson and Lisa Leslie – have won three MVP awards.
On September 15, Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points in a season.
Earlier this season, Wilson set a record by becoming the first player to score at least 20 points and grab at least 10 rebounds in eight consecutive games. Although she has played a career-high 34.4 minutes per game this season, Wilson’s year is a career year with highs in points per game (26.9), rebounds per game (9.8) and steals per game (1.8). She finished the regular season with the highest scoring average in league history at 26.87, easily surpassing the record of 25.29 set by Diana Taurasi in 2006.
Wilson is the Defensive Player of the Year – an award she is expected to compete for again this season – and finished third in MVP voting last season. She previously won MVP in 2020 and 2022 and led the Aces to back-to-back WNBA titles the past two seasons.
The Aces entered the 2024 playoffs on Sunday as the No. 4 seed against the fifth-seeded Seattle Storm. Las Vegas is trying to become the first team since the Houston Comets to win three straight titles (Houston won four championships from 1997-2000).
This is the first time since 2015 that the league’s MVP has not come from a top-three team. This year, Elena Delle Donne was named MVP despite the Washington Mystics finishing fourth in the Eastern Conference. Delle Donne averaged 23.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 2.0 blocks this season.
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