Aces’ A’ja Wilson becomes second unanimous MVP in WNBA history

LAS VEGAS — Aces center A’ja Wilson became the second player in WNBA history to win the league’s MVP as a unanimous choice Sunday, collecting all 67 first-place votes for 670 points from a media panel.

The only other unanimous MVP was Houston guard Cynthia Cooper in the WNBA’s inaugural season in 1997.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) finished second in the voting on 66 of the 67 ballots. New York‘s Breanna Stewart (295 points) received the other second-place vote and finished third overall.

Indiana Fever rookie Caitlin Clark (130 points) finished fourth, while Connecticut‘s Alyssa Thomas (83) rounded out the top five. Players were awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth.

“Hopefully when I look back and reflect, that definitely touches my heart,” Wilson said Sunday of being a unanimous choice. “It means a lot, it really does.”

Wilson previously won the MVP in 2020 and 2022. She was third last year in one of the closest MVP races in league history, finishing behind winner Stewart and runner-up Thomas. That lit a fire under an already super-competitive Wilson, who ran away from the field early this season and never let anyone catch up.

“That was kind of my mindset going into this year — I didn’t want to leave any doubt,” Wilson said. “I needed to establish myself to say, ‘This is what I’m working hard towards, and now it’s time to showcase everything I’ve been working on.’ “

Wilson became the first WNBA player to reach 1,000 points in a season, finishing with 1,021, while also setting the league record for rebounds in a season with 451.

“We always talk about, ‘Make your teammate great, and then in the process you become the greatest,'” Aces coach Becky Hammon said. “A’ja is a great example of that — just making everybody great around her. She’s the greatest, because she’s so authentically committed to that: pulling greatness out of other people.

“It’s been fun to coach her. She’s just a really, really gifted human being. I’ve kind of run out of adjectives. She’s amazing. She’s the best player in the world, and she’s one of the best people in the world.”

Wilson joins three other players in winning the MVP for the third time: forward Sheryl Swoopes (Houston), center Lisa Leslie (Los Angeles) and forward/center Lauren Jackson (Seattle). All are retired and in the Naismith Hall of Fame.

Wilson led the WNBA this season in scoring (26.9), blocks (2.6), player efficiency rating (34.9) and win shares (10.9). Her scoring average is the highest ever for a WNBA season, surpassing Diana Taurasi‘s 25.3 points per game in 2006.

Wilson’s rebounding (11.9 per game), block and steal (1.8) averages also are career highs. She had two games this season with 40-plus points and nine others with 30 or more.

The 6-foot-4 Wilson scored at least 20 points in 89.5% of her games (34 of 38), also a WNBA single-season record.

Wilson led the Aces to the 2022 and 2023 WNBA championships, and she was WNBA Finals MVP last season. The No. 1 draft pick out of South Carolina in 2018, she was Rookie of the Year that season. Wilson turned 28 in August and won her second Olympic gold medal last month.

Las Vegas is the No. 4 seed in the playoffs and faces No. 5 Seattle in Game 1 of their best-of-three first-round series Sunday (10 p.m. ET, ESPN).