The Women's National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual

Women's National Basketball Association The Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) is a women's professional basketball league in the United States. The league comprises 13 teams (scheduled to expand to 15 in 2026). The WNBA is headquartered in Midtown Manhattan. The WNBA w ...

(WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season in 1997. MVP voting takes place immediately following the

regular season In an organized sports league, a typical season is the portion of one year in which regulated games of the sport are in session: for example, in Major League Baseball the season lasts approximately from the last week of March to the last week of S ...

. The award recipient is decided by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States. Panel members were asked to select their top five choices for the award, with 10 points being awarded for a first place vote, seven for second, five for third, three for fourth and one for fifth. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, fans could also have a say in who won the award. Fans were able to vote online for their top five MVP picks. These selections accounted for 25% of the total vote, while the media panel's selections accounted for the other 75%.

Sheryl Swoopes Sheryl Denise Swoopes (born March 25, 1971) is an American former professional basketball player. She was the first player to be signed in the WNBA, is a three-time WNBA MVP, and was named one of the league's Top 15 Players of All Time at the 2 ...

Lisa Leslie Lisa Deshaun Leslie (born July 7, 1972) is an American former professional basketball player. She is formerly the head coach for Triplets (basketball), Triplets in the BIG3 professional basketball league, as well as a studio analyst for Orlando ...

Lauren Jackson Lauren Elizabeth Jackson (born 11 May 1981) is an Australian former professional basketball player. Arguably the most notable Australian women's basketball player, Jackson has had a decorated career with the Australia women's national basketb ...

and

A'ja Wilson A'ja Riyadh Wilson ( ; born August 8, 1996) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks women's basketball, South Car ...

have won the award the most times, with three selections each. Two players have won the award with different franchises—

Elena Delle Donne Elena Delle Donne (born September 5, 1989) is an American former professional basketball player for 10 seasons as a member of the Washington Mystics and Chicago Sky. Delle Donne played college basketball for the Delaware Blue Hens from 2009 to ...

in 2015 with the Chicago Sky and 2019 with the Washington Mystics, and

Breanna Stewart Breanna Mackenzie Stewart ( ; Born, August 27, 1994), nicknamed "Stewie", is an American professional basketball player for the New York Liberty of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). She is one of the most accomplished women in ...

in 2018 with the Seattle Storm and 2023 with the New York Liberty. Cynthia Cooper and Candace Parker and have also won the award twice.

Candace Parker Candace Nicole Parker (born April 19, 1986), nicknamed "Ace", is an American former professional basketball player. Widely regarded as one of the greatest WNBA players of all time, she was selected as the first overall pick in the 2008 WNBA dr ...

is the only player to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season—2008. Jackson, both born and trained in Australia, is the only award winner trained outside the United States. The sculptor of the WNBA MVP Award is Marc Mellon, who is also the sculptor of the NBA MVP Trophy.

Winners

Winners

Multi-time winners

Teams

See also

References

External links