The 2023 season gave us one of the most closely-contested MVP races in WNBA history. The Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas earned the most first-place votes and the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson received the most second-place votes, yet the New York Liberty’s Breanna Stewart captured her second MVP award.
This year, Wilson is leaving little room for quibbling over who should receive first-, second- or third-place votes, much less fourth-place votes. She is authoritatively claiming the award she believed should have been hers last season by putting together one of the most productive seasons in league history. Yes, the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier is making an outstanding MVP case, establishing herself as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate while serving as the offensive fulcrum for the overachieving Lynx. But when comparing Collier’s statistical resume to Wilson’s, Wilson’s overwhelms. She’s made it impossible to ignore her excellence.
The 2020 and 2022 WNBA MVP is averaging 27.2 points per game, which comfortably would surpass the highest scoring average in league history: Diana Taurasi’s 2006 average of 25.0 points per game. Taurasi’s point production was boosted her prolific 3-point shooting, when she made 3.5 3s per game; that was more…
