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2023 WNBA awards picks: Breanna Stewart for MVP, Alyssa Thomas is top defender, plus All-WNBA selections – CBS Sports
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Another exciting and historic WNBA season came to a close on Sunday, and the playoffs will soon begin to determine the league’s 27th champion. Before that, though, it’s time to take a look back at the regular season action and determine the major award winners. While there were a few easy calls, such as Aliyah Boston for Rookie of the Year, overall this was one of the toughest award seasons to call in recent memory.
The deadline for media ballots was Sunday night, and for the first time, I was honored to receive an official vote from the league. Here are my picks for every major award, as well as All-WNBA, All-Defensive and All-Rookie teams.
This was one of the best MVP races of all time, with three deserving candidates who all put together historic campaigns. We don’t have the space to get into the full debate here, but there is a separate story with a full breakdown that explains Stewart’s selection. In short, she was the best and most complete player in the league this season, and led the Liberty to a historic 32-win campaign. Her 23 points and 3.8 assists per game were both career-highs, and she added 9.3 rebounds, 1.5 steals and 1.6 blocks. She finished second in scoring, third in rebounds and fourth in blocks; she became the first player in league history to average 23 points, nine rebounds and three assists for a season; and she set a new WNBA record for 40-point games in a season with four, which also tied Diana Taurasi’s mark for the most all-time.
Thomas stuffed the stat sheet in never-before-seen ways this season, en route to becoming the triple-double queen. And yet, her most impressive work came on the defensive end of the floor, where she was a one-woman wrecking crew for the Sun. With Thomas leading the way, the Sun held opponents to 43.5% shooting from the field, turned them over on 19.8% of their possessions and finished with the second-best defensive rating (98.8) in the league. Thomas’ versatility, physicality and leadership on that side of the ball were second to none, and on a personal level she led the league in defensive rebounding (7.9 per game) and was third in steals (1.8). Her efforts on that side of the ball were a major reason the Sun won a franchise-record 27 games and finished third in the league.
This honor has been locked up for months. As expected, the No. 1 pick was by far the best player in this class, and put together one of the best seasons we’ve ever seen from a rookie. Boston put up 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, while shooting 57.8% from the field. She led rookies in every major statistical category save for assists, and led the entire league in field goal percentage. Only six other players in league history have averaged at least 14 points and eight rebounds on 55% shooting or better, and Boston did it as a rookie.
The Wings forward finally made good on the promise that made her the No. 2 overall pick back in 2020, and blossomed into a true star. She averaged career-highs across the board with 18.6 points, 8.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.8 steals per game, while shooting 36.1% from 3-point land. The only other player in the league to finish in the top-15 in scoring, rebounding and assists was Breanna Stewart, and she joined Candace Parker as the only players in WNBA history to average at least 18 points, eight rebounds and four assists for an entire season. With Sabally leading the way, the Wings won 20 games for the first time since 2008 and earned the No. 4 seed in the playoffs.
When just looking at fit, there may not have been a more perfect signing in free agency than Clark to the Aces. The veteran forward was just what the defending champs needed to supplement their All-Star core, and she delivered with another impressive season off the bench. She averaged 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds, while shooting 38.1% from 3-point land and playing terrific defense. Perhaps the clearest sign of Clark’s importance to the Aces en route to their record-setting 34-win season, is that while she didn’t start a single game and only averaged 22.5 minutes, she was often on the floor to close.
Before White had even coached a game for the Sun, the team traded former MVP Jonquel Jones to the Sun. And just over a month into the season, two-time All-Star and reigning Sixth Player of the Year Brionna Jones went down with a torn Achilles tendon. And yet, despite losing two of their best players from last season, the Sun finished with a franchise-record 28 wins and earned the No. 3 seed in the playoffs.
Note: All-WNBA teams are position-less
First Team
Napheesa Collier
Minnesota Lynx
Nneka Ogwumike
Los Angeles Sparks
Alyssa Thomas
Connecticut Sun
Breanna Stewart
New York Liberty
A’ja Wilson
Las Vegas Aces
Second Team
Chelsea Gray
Las Vegas Aces
Jewell Loyd
Seattle Storm
Sabrina Ionescu
New York Liberty
Satou Sabally
Dallas Wings
Jackie Young
Las Vegas Aces
Note: The All-Defensive Teams are position-less
First Team
Jordin Canada
Los Angeles Sparks
Breanna Stewart
New York Liberty
Brittney Sykes
Washington Mystics
Alyssa Thomas
Connecticut Sun
A’ja Wilson
Las Vegas Aces
Second Team
Natasha Cloud
Washington Mystics
Nia Coffey
Atlanta Dream
Napheesa Collier
Minnesota Lynx
Ezi Magbegor
Seattle Storm
Nneka Ogwumike
Los Angeles Sparks
Note: The All-Rookie team is position-less
Aliyah Boston
Indiana Fever
Jordan Horston
Seattle Storm
Dorka Juhasz
Minnesota Lynx
Li Meng
Washington Mystics
Diamond Miller
Minnesota Lynx
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