A'ja Wilson Takes 15 of 17 First-Place Votes for a Third Straight AP Award

Photo: WNBA.com. Official A'ja Wilson headshot, Las Vegas Aces.

A'ja Wilson locked a third straight AP WNBA Player of the Year on Sunday with 15 of 17 first-place votes from the national media panel.

Those 15 first-place votes put her ahead of Olivia Miles of Minnesota plus Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell of Indiana, and the win is Wilson's fourth career AP award, breaking her tie with Breanna Stewart for the most since the Associated Press started the honor in 2016.

Wilson led the league at 26.2 points a night, added 9.4 rebounds, a career-best 3.2 assists, and 1.9 blocks for Las Vegas. She also became the first WNBA player with two 1,000-point seasons this year. The scoring crown is familiar. The assist number is the one that changes how you read the tape. A 26-point scorer who also dishes 3.2 a game forces help to choose wrong.

Third straight is the part of the award that sits heavier than fourth overall. Miles put up a unanimous Rookie of the Year season at 19.8 points, 6.0 assists, and 4.7 rebounds for a Lynx team that finished with the best record in the league, and she set the WNBA rookie scoring record that Clark held from 2024. Clark played 40 games after missing much of last season and averaged 22.3 points, 8.3 assists, and 4.0 rebounds on the way to the AP Comeback award. In a year when a No. 2 pick rewrote the rookie scoring book and a star returned for 40 games, Wilson still took 15 of 17. The panel is the same 17-member group that votes the weekly power poll. Eleven years into these awards, three straight means a panel that kept seeing the same answer while the rest of the ballot got louder.

The defensive context around that load flipped on the same Sunday drop. Angel Reese won AP Defensive Player of the Year and dethroned Wilson, who had taken DPOY in three of the last four seasons. Reese moved to Atlanta this offseason, finished third in steals, led the league in rebounds for a third straight year, and showed the versatility to guard most positions. That flip clarifies the cost of carrying 26.2 a night as the offense's first option while the defensive hardware went elsewhere. Wilson still posted 1.9 blocks. She still lived at the rim on both ends. The panel that handed Reese the DPOY still handed Wilson 15 of 17 on Player of the Year. Offense and the full two-way load won the bigger award even as the pure defensive trophy changed hands.

Playoff timing is the next clock. The WNBA will announce its own postseason awards over the course of the playoffs, which begin Sunday. The AP note already frames Wilson as a huge favorite for a third straight league MVP. The AP award and the league MVP are separate votes. Wilson walking into that window with a third straight AP plaque and a fourth career AP win is the baseline every other ballot has to clear.

The rest of the AP board fills in the season around her. Cheryl Reeve took Coach of the Year for a third time after 2020 and 2024, guiding Minnesota to the No. 1 seed while Napheesa Collier missed the first half recovering from offseason surgeries on both ankles. Jessica Shepard won Most Improved after signing with Dallas as a free agent and posting 14.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 31.7 minutes with six triple-doubles. Janelle Salaün took Sixth Woman for Golden State off the bench in every one of her 40 games at 12.7 points and 4.0 rebounds on 39.2 percent from three, leading all reserves in scoring while the Valkyries bench averaged more than 36 points a night. All-WNBA first team put Wilson beside Stewart, Clark, Mitchell plus Miles. Second team put Reese with Rhyne Howard, Paige Bueckers, Jackie Young, and Gabby Williams.

"It's big. It's an honor for me to do it three times in a row. It's not easy," Wilson told the AP. "My counterparts in this league are really good. I don't take it lightly because of how much talent we do have in this league." On the fourth career award she added, "That's got a nice ring to it. That's pretty cool." The counterparts line is the scouting report. Miles rewrote a rookie record. Clark played 40 games. Reese took the defensive award Wilson had owned. Wilson still led scoring, still added the career-best assist touch, and still walked away with 15 of 17.

Watch what that assist number does in a halfcourt set when Wilson catches at the elbow with a guard digging from the nail. A year ago that dig could dare her to finish alone. This season the 3.2 assists mean the dig has to account for the dump-off and the skip. Scoring 26.2 a night already bent the paint. Adding creation at a career high bent the second line of help. The panel saw a scorer who made the defense wrong twice.

Sources

• Associated Press via NBC Sports. Sep 27, 2026. Wilson 15 of 17 first-place votes; third straight AP POY; fourth career (breaks Stewart tie); season line 26.2/9.4/3.2/1.9; Wilson quotes; Reese DPOY; Miles unanimous ROY; Clark Comeback; Reeve COY; Shepard MIP; Salaün 6th Woman; All-WNBA teams; WNBA awards over playoffs beginning Sunday; Wilson huge favorite for third straight WNBA MVP (AP note).
• Associated Press / Doug Feinberg via ABC News. Sep 27, 2026. Same AP wire confirmation.
• Reuters. Sep 27, 2026. Aces star named AP WNBA Player of the Year.
• ESPN. Sep 27, 2026. Wilson and Reese lead AP WNBA award winners.
• WTOP / AP awards list. Sep 27, 2026. Full AP WNBA awards winners list.
• Photo: WNBA.com official A'ja Wilson headshot (player ID 1628932).