The final week of the WNBA regular season is here, which means it’s time for voters — including the three of us — to submit their official ballots for the 2024 end-of-season awards.
The voting panel includes 68 media members from national networks and the 12 WNBA markets. Ballots will be sent out at noon ET on Friday and award winners will be announced throughout the following season.
So what do those ballots look like?
MVP has been a one-man race for a while, with Las Vegas Ace‘ A’ja Wilson established himself as the front-runner and won three-thirds of the vote from the panel. The only question was whether Wilson would become the second player and first since Cynthia Cooper in the league’s inaugural season in 1997, to win the award unanimously. And, with voters tasked with ranking five MVP candidates, who will be on the ballot?
The ESPN trio also unanimously awarded Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year, and had most of the same players on their all-WNBA rosters, but went in different directions for other awards.
Here’s how we voted for the biggest WNBA award.
Best player
Kevin Pelton: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Ace
Alexa Philippou: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Michael Voepel: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Wilson’s historic season reached a new high this past week. On Wednesday, she broke the single-season scoring record, surpassing Jewell Loyd’s previous total of 939 points set last year. On Sunday, Wilson became the first player to reach 1,000 points in a season. Of course, focusing on scoring alone doesn’t capture everything Wilson does on the court with her defense, rebounding and tenacity, not to mention her leadership for the two-time defending champions.
If Wilson doesn’t play so differently, the Minnesota Lynx Napheesa Collier could have won MVP honors this summer, and she’ll likely finish second 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 also made the top five. — Philippou
Rookie of the Year
Pelton: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
Philippou: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
Voice: Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever
Clark not only had one of the best rookie years in WNBA history, but also an outstanding season for a player of any level of WNBA experience. She’s averaging 19.5 points, a league-best 8.3 assists, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals. She set the WNBA record for assists in a season (329) and helped the Indiana Fever return to the playoffs for the first time since 2016. Everything the Fever could have hoped for when they selected Clark No. 1 — including a surge in attendance and merchandise sales — has come to pass.
Clark will almost certainly be on some MVP ballots, too. The league’s official ballots ask voters to list their top five picks for MVP. But voters only pick one winner for the other individual awards. Does that mean Clark will be a unanimous choice for Rookie of the Year?
She is on our board, but some voters may choose Chicago Sky front Angel Reesewho 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 rebounds record (446). Reese’s season was cut short by a wrist injury, but she still played in 34 games.
Reese had a strong season and could have been the top rookie in some other years. But this award is certainly a huge win for Clark. — Voepel
Coach of the Year
Pelton: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota bobcat
Philippou: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
Voice: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
After two sub-.500 seasons, the Lynx are back near the top of the WNBA standings, where they were for most of Reeve’s tenure. Despite incorporating a pair of new players at point guard Courtney Williams and center Alanna SmithMinnesota started 13-3 and won the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup on away goals.
After stumbling to a 4-5 start before 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 an away win over Liberty. A win Tuesday at Connecticut would give the team the No. 2 seed, an impressive feat for a team that wasn’t considered a playoff surefire.
While Reeve gets our unanimous nod, Sandy Brondello deserves a vote after leading New York to the WNBA’s best record, while incumbent winner Stephanie White holds her own once again. Connecticut Sun in the competition despite the offseason change. And Christie Sides deserves credit for how the Fever adjusted to Clark’s unique skill set during their season’s transformation from a 1-8 start with a tough schedule to a .500 record for the first time since 2016. — Pelton
Defensive Player of the Year
Pelton: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Philippou: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Voice: Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Wilson, a two-time winner, has posted career highs in steals and blocks this season, leading the WNBA in the latter category. Collier, however, has excelled as part of the league’s second-best defense on a per-possession basis (the Aces are fifth, closer to average than the Lynx).
Like Wilson, Collier is in the top 10 in steal percentage, ranking fourth among players with at least 750 minutes played. (Wilson is 10th.) And camera tracking data from Second Spectrum shows that Collier has defended the rim as well as Wilson on a per-play basis. Opponents shoot 52 percent of their shots inside the paint against both players as primary defenders. Add to that Collier’s versatility in defending multiple positions based on matchups, and she has a chance to flip the order of MVP ballots here. — Pelton
Sixth Player of the Year
Pelton: Leonie Fiebich, New York Freedom
Philippou: Leonie Fiebich, New York Liberal
Voice: Tiffany HayesLas Vegas Ace
Hayes, one Atlanta Dream The great played for the Suns in 2023, previously retired from the WNBA before joining Las Vegas after the season ended and played a key role as a spark plug off the bench this summer. The Aces (Dearica Hamby, Kelsey Plum And Alysha Clark) has won this award four out of the last five years, dating back to Bill Laimbeer, so it would be no surprise to see Hayes continue this tradition.
Fiebich, on the other hand, is a 24-year-old rookie from Germany (and a member of the Paris Olympics team) who has proven to be a big addition for New York this year. She has started 15 games as several New York players have moved in and out of the lineup. Her defensive height and 3-point shooting ability have been crucial for a Liberty team that is even deeper and stronger defensively than last year when it reached the WNBA Finals. — Philippou
Most Improved Player
Pelton: Bridget CarletonMinnesota bobcat
Philippou: Chennedy Carter, Chicago Sky
Voice: DiJonai CarringtonConnecticut Sun
This is the only award our panel went three different ways, all of which are valid. Carleton is in her sixth WNBA season but her first as a full-time starter, and she’s been key to Minnesota’s success. She’s averaging a career-best 9.6 points, her most since the 2020 season (6.6). She’s one of the league’s top 3-point shooters (86 of 195, 44.1%).
Carrington, like Carleton, is a success story despite being an underrated second-round draft pick. Carleton went 21st overall in 2019; Carrington went 20th in 2021. This is Carrington’s fourth season and first as a starter. She’s averaging career highs in minutes played (29.5), points (12.7), rebounds (4.9), assists (1.5) and steals (1.6). And she’s proven herself to be one of the strongest on-ball defenders in the league.
Carter has a different story: She was a No. 4 lottery pick in 2020 out of 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 discipline issues with the Dream. A fresh start with Los Angeles in 2022 didn’t go well either—she averaged 8.9 PPG—and Carter didn’t play in the WNBA in 2023. But she was the Sky’s leading scorer in 2024, averaging 17.5 PPG. — Voepel
First All-WNBA Team
Pelton: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas; Napheesa Collier, Minnesota; Breanna Stewart, New York; Caitlin Clark, Indiana; Kayla McBrideMinnesota
Philippou: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas; Napheesa Collier, Minnesota; Breanna Stewart, New York; Alyssa Thomas, Conn.; Caitlin Clark, Indiana
Voice: A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas; Napheesa Collier, Minnesota; Breanna Stewart, New York; Caitlin Clark, Indiana; Alyssa Thomas, Conn
