WNBA awards tracker: Wilson, Clark are unanimous picks as our voters cast their ballots

Sep 17, 2024, 09:09 AM ET

The final week of the WNBA regular season is upon us, which means it’s time for voters — including the three of us — to submit official ballots for the 2024 end-of-season awards.

The voting panel comprises 68 media members at national outlets and within the 12 WNBA markets. Ballots are due at noon ET on Friday, and the award winners will be announced throughout the postseason.

So what might those ballots look like?

MVP has been a one-person race for some time now, with the Las Vegas Aces‘ A’ja Wilson establishing herself as the clear favorite and going 3-for-3 on earning this panel’s vote. The only question is whether Wilson will become the second player, and first since Cynthia Cooper in the league’s inaugural season of 1997, to earn the award unanimously. And with voters tasked with ranking five MVP candidates, who else will end up on ballots?

This ESPN trio was also unanimous on Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year, and had the majority of the same players for the All-WNBA first team, but went different routes for other awards.

Here’s how we voted on the biggest WNBA awards.

MVP

Kevin Pelton: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Alexa Philippou: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Michael Voepel: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces

Wilson’s historic season reached new heights this past week. On Wednesday, she broke the single-season scoring record, surpassing Jewell Loyd’s previous total of 939 points last year. On Sunday, Wilson became the first player to reach 1,000 points in a season. Of course, focusing on only scoring doesn’t nearly encapsulate everything Wilson does on the court with her defense, rebounding and tenacity, not to mention her leadership for the two-time defending champs.

If Wilson weren’t playing so otherworldly, the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier might have taken home MVP this summer, and she’ll likely come in second place in MVP voting. With voters ranking their top five MVP candidates on ballots, don’t be surprised to see players like Breanna Stewart, Alyssa Thomas and rookie Caitlin Clark finish in the top five as well. — Philippou

The WNBA’s top plays of the week

Check out the WNBA’s top plays of the past week, including some nice moments from Caitlin Clark and Marina Mabrey.

Rookie of the Year

Pelton: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
Philippou: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
Voepel: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever

Clark has had not just one of the best rookie years in WNBA history, but an outstanding season for a player of any level of WNBA experience. She is averaging 19.5 points, a league-best 8.3 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals. She has set the WNBA single-season record for assists (329) and has helped the Fever make it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Everything the Fever could have hoped for in picking Clark No. 1 — including a gargantuan surge in attendance and merchandise sales — has happened.

Clark almost certainly also will be named on some MVP ballots, too. Official league ballots ask voters to list top-five choices for MVP. But voters pick just one winner for the other individual awards. Does that mean Clark will be a unanimous pick for Rookie of the Year?

She is on our panel, but some voters might opt for Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, who averaged a double-double (13.6 PPG, 13.1 RPG), had the longest double-double streak in WNBA history (15 games) and set the single-season rebounding record (446). Reese’s season was cut short by a wrist injury, but she still played 34 games.

Reese had a strong season and might have been the top rookie in some other years. But this award should be a landslide for Clark. — Voepel

Coach of the Year

Pelton: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
Philippou: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
Voepel: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx

After two sub-.500 seasons, the Lynx are back near the top of the WNBA standings, where they’ve resided much of Reeve’s tenure. Despite incorporating a pair of new starters in guard Courtney Williams and center Alanna Smith, Minnesota got off to a 13-3 start and won the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup on the road.

Having stumbled during a 4-5 stretch heading into the Olympic break, with two of those losses coming in Collier’s absence, the Lynx have been the league’s best team since returning. Minnesota is 12-1 after the Olympics, including a statement road win over the Liberty. A win Tuesday in Connecticut would clinch the No. 2 seed, an impressive accomplishment for a team that wasn’t considered certain to make the playoffs.

Although Reeve was unanimous among us, Sandy Brondello merits votes after leading New York to the WNBA’s best record, while reigning winner Stephanie White has again kept the Connecticut Sun in contention despite offseason turnover. And Christie Sides deserves credit for how the Fever have adjusted to Clark’s unique skill set over the course of their in-season turnaround from a 1-8 start against a brutal schedule to a .500 record (at worst) for the first time since 2016. — Pelton

Defensive Player of the Year

Pelton: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Philippou: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Voepel: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx

Wilson, the two-time reigning winner, remarkably has put up career highs in steal and block rate this season, leading the WNBA in the latter category. Yet Collier has excelled as part of the league’s second-best defense on a per-possession basis (the Aces rank fifth, closer to average than they are to the Lynx).

Like Wilson, Collier is in the top 10 in steal rate, ranking fourth among players who have played at least 750 minutes. (Wilson is 10th.) And camera tracking data from Second Spectrum suggests Collier has protected the rim as well as Wilson on a per-play basis. Opponents are making 52% of shots inside the restricted area against both players as primary defenders. Add in Collier’s versatility to defend multiple positions based on matchups, and she has a chance to flip-flop the order from MVP ballots here. — Pelton

Sixth Player of the Year

Pelton: Leonie Fiebich, New York Liberty
Philippou: Leonie Fiebich, New York Liberty
Voepel: Tiffany Hayes, Las Vegas Aces

Hayes, an Atlanta Dream great who played with the Sun in 2023, had previously retired from the WNBA before joining Las Vegas after the season tipped and playing a crucial role as a spark off the bench this summer. Aces players (Dearica Hamby twice, Kelsey Plum and Alysha Clark) have won this award four of the past five years, dating back to the Bill Laimbeer days, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see Hayes continue the tradition.

On the other hand, Fiebich is a 24-year-old rookie out of Germany (and member of its Olympic team for the Paris Games) who proved to be a massive addition for New York this year. She started 15 games when some New York players were in and out of the lineup. Her length on defense and 3-point shooting have been crucial for a Liberty team that is even deeper, and stronger defensively, than last year, when it made a run to the WNBA Finals. — Philippou

Most Improved Player

Pelton: Bridget Carleton, Minnesota Lynx
Philippou: Chennedy Carter, Chicago Sky
Voepel: DiJonai Carrington, Connecticut Sun

This is the only award in which our panel went three different ways, all of which have merit. Carleton is in her sixth WNBA season but first as a full-time starter, and she has been key to Minnesota’s success. She is averaging a career-best 9.6 points, her most since the 2020 season (6.6). She is one of the league’s top 3-point shooters (86-of-195, 44.1%).

Carrington, like Carleton, is a success story despite being an underestimated second-round draft pick. Carleton went 21st overall in 2019; Carrington was 20th in 2021. This is Carrington’s fourth season and first as a starter. She is averaging career highs in minutes played (29.5), points (12.7), rebounds (4.9), assists (1.5) and steals (1.6) and proved to be one of the league’s stronger on-ball defenders.

Carter has a different story: She was a lottery pick in 2020 at No. 4 by Atlanta and averaged 17.4 PPG and 3.4 APG, finishing second in the Rookie of the Year race during the pandemic-shortened season in the bubble. Then she played just 11 games in 2021 while having some disciplinary issues with the Dream. A fresh start with Los Angeles in 2022 didn’t pan out that well, either — she averaged 8.9 PPG — and Carter didn’t play in the WNBA in 2023. But she has been the leading scorer for the Sky in 2024, averaging 17.5 PPG. — Voepel