This story was originally published by Dead Spin
There have been seasons in which the race for the WNBA’s MVP trophy has been close, competitive and compelling.
Last year marked one of them, when New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart beat Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas by just seven voting points—and Thomas had three more first-place votes. The 2005 season marked another narrow debate when Sheryl Swoopes received two more voting points than Lauren Jackson.
But this season is not one of those years. Frankly, there is only one logical choice for the league’s MVP award. It should be a runaway and unanimous decision. It should be the third time that Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson takes the trophy home. And it shouldn’t be close.
A year ago, Wilson finished third in that tightly contested MVP race, just 13 voting points behind the winner, Stewart. There has never been a smaller margin between the first- and third-place vote getters for MVP in the history of the WNBA.
If Wilson used that bronze medal finish as motivation, it worked. She dominated throughout the 2023 postseason and powered the Aces to a second-straight championship while taking home the Finals MVP award. If consolation prizes exist, those are pretty good ones.
And then Wilson proceeded to turn in one of the greatest seasons ever by a WNBA player.
The 28-year-old forward from Columbia, South Carolina, is averaging 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals and 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 51.8 percent from the floor and 84.4 percent from the charity stripe. She leads all WNBA players in points, blocks, defensive rebounds, field goals made, and free throws made.
No player in the history of the WNBA, which played its first season in 1997, has averaged as many points, rebounds and blocks in a single season as Wilson this year. Simply put, she’s doing things no player has ever done before. The University of South Carolina product also recently became the first player ever to score at least 1,000 points in a single season, and she took hold of the league’s single-season rebounding record on Tuesday night with seven boards in a win over the Seattle Storm.
“Since I’ve been a part of this league, which is 1999, I don’t know if we’ve seen a season like she’s having now,” Aces coach Becky Hammon told ESPN. “She’s just a beautiful player to watch… And makes it look easy. It is not easy. It’s a special, generational talent.”
Oh, and Wilson excels in advanced statistics too. She’s second in the WNBA in points-per-play (1.12), and first in defensive rebounding rate (31.8), player efficiency rating (34.9) and win shares (10). She’s also posting a career-best defensive rating of 90.5.
“I can probably say she’s the best rebounder I’ve ever seen, hands down,” 2009 WNBA MVP Diana Taurasi said of Wilson. “When you can secure the ball for your team, you are always going to give your team a chance to win. She is just playing out of her mind, and she is going to continue to do it because she loves the game.”
It’s difficult to even make a case for who might be a runner-up to Wilson this season. Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark has captured tons of attention with her long-distance 3-pointers and neck-breaking assists—which she leads the league in—but she isn’t scoring and defending at the same rate and as efficiently as Wilson is. Stewart is having another All-WNBA-caliber season, but not one that rises to the level of an MVP. Napheesa Collier is arguably having her best campaign as a pro and is leading the Minnesota Lynx back to the postseason, but no one would reasonably argue that she’s having a better year than Wilson.
The Aces don’t seem quite as dominant as they did last season when they went 34-6 en route to a second championship. This year, they’ve endured a three-game losing streak and another stretch where they lost five of seven games. The play, durability, reliability and heroics of Wilson are a big reason why Las Vegas is heading back to the postseason with the hopes of three-peating still alive. She’s missed just one game this season and has played a career-high 34.4 minutes per game.
“It’s an honor to be able to play with her,” Aces guard Jackie Young told ESPN. “She comes in every day and kind of shows us what a professional is.”
As long as Wilson is playing this way, consider the Aces to be contenders for the title.
And go ahead and pencil her in to join the likes of Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson as a three-time MVP.
