Defense is hard to measure, but necessary to celebrate. So, who is the best defender in the WNBA?
Is it blossoming superstar who does it all for one of the league’s most versatile defenses? Is it an honoree who would make history, claiming a third-straight Defensive Player of the Year award—the first in WNBA history to do so—to add to her already full trophy case? Or, is it a longtime defensive stalwart who, as the heart of the league’s top ranked defense, will finally be rewarded?
Josh Felton analyzes the defensive impact of the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier, Mykah Horrell outlines the continued excellence of the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Cat Ariail trumpets the cause of the Connecticut Sun’s Alyssa Thomas.
Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx)
On the surface, it’s easy to simply compare at the change in the Lynx’s defensive efficiency when Napheesa Collier is on the floor and when she is off the floor. Her eight-point swing on defense would be the difference between Minnesota being first and fifth in the league.
The Lynx are a historic defense when…
