A’JA WILSON, center-forward for the Las Vegas Aces, has won another Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) Most Valuable Player (MVP) award, the league announced earlier this morning.
Wilson got all 67 first-place votes, totaling 670 points, making her the first unanimous Kia WNBA MVP since the Houston Comets’ Cynthia Cooper in the league’s debut season in 1997.
She is presently the record holder for three MVP Awards, two of which came in 2020 and 2022. Joining Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and Lauren Jackson as the only WNBA players with three MVP awards.
In her seventh WNBA season, the towering ace player from Las Vegas averaged 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.58 blocked shots, and 1.79 steals in 34.4 minutes over 38 games played.
Wilson also led the WNBA in points and blocks, while finishing second in rebounds, fifth in steals, and fourth in minutes, setting career highs in all five per-game categories.
Players received 10 points for voting first, 7 points for voting second, 5 points for voting third, 3 points for voting fourth, and 1 point for voting fifth.
The Caitlin Clark Fever
Along with Aces’ Wilson, Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) was ranked second, followed by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (295).
Meanwhile, after a phenomenal debut season in which she broke record after record, Caitlin Clark, the highly touted guard from the Indiana Fever, finished fourth in the MVP rankings with 130 points.
Finishing fourth in the rankings is still significant, as Clark is the first rookie since Elena Delle Donne in 2013 to finish in the top five of the WNBA MVP voting. Proving that the first overall pick will soon be the league’s face.
Nonetheless, the rookie is focused on the current WNBA Playoffs. Saying that, while it is exciting to be part of such a milestone, the team’s primary goal must remain winning the playoff series.
“I mean, it’s cool. But at the same time, I don’t really care,” said Clark in an interview, of her fourth place finish in the MVP voting. “My life is very unaffected by that. I’m just gonna try to go out and there and help my team.
“Obviously, our goal was to get to the playoffs. But, you know, I have a belief that we can come in here and we can win this series. But approaching it one game at a time.”
“So I think that’s where my focus is, but obviously it’s pretty night and day from where we first started. So I feel like that’s something to be proud of and find confidence in,” she went on to say.
Clark was nonetheless given the unanimous Associated Press WNBA Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season. She had an impressive 19.2 points, 8.4 assists, and 1.3 steals per game.
Meanwhile, despite differing outcomes in their MVP races, both of these players are on a historic journey this season. This year’s WNBA is both a must-see and a history-making season.
