A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces unanimously named WNBA MVP

Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson was unanimously voted WNBA MVP, the league announced Sunday.

The Aces' versatile forward averaged 26.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season. She is only the second player to win the award unanimously, joining Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets in the league's inaugural season in 1997.

Wilson received all 67 first-place votes from a national media panel, making her the honor three times (2020 and 2022). She is the fourth player in WNBA history to reach this milestone, joining Sherly Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) took second place, followed by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (295 points), Indiana Fever defenseman Caitlin Clark (130 points) and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (83 points) in fifth place.

Wilson finished third in MVP voting last year and received a fourth-place vote, which she said gave her a boost after the Aces won their second consecutive WNBA title.

“It fueled me a little when I started my offseason workouts, but by February I was done with it,” she said. “I didn't want to give that energy to that person, so that's when I started getting into it.”

Wilson finished the regular season with 1,021 points, 451 rebounds and led the league with 98 blocks. The 6-foot-4 Wilson broke the WNBA single-season scoring average record set by Phoenix Mercury player Diana Taurasi (25.3 points per game) in 2006.

She scored a season-high 42 points against Dallas and then scored 41 against Phoenix a few days later. Overall, she scored at least 20 points in 34 of her 38 games. She was relentless in rebounding, grabbing 9.8 defensive rebounds per game, the highest season average in league history.

Wilson's rebounding average of 11.87 is the third-best in league history, behind Angel Reese and Sylvia Fowles.

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WNBA Candidate: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball