Alanna Smith and A'ja Wilson named WNBA Co-Defensive Players of the Year after split vote

In a surprising twist, for the first time in WNBA history, there are co-winners of the league’s Defensive Player of the Year award. Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith and Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson are sharing the honor after splitting the vote.

Smith and Wilson each received 29 votes, leading to the tie.

Three other players also received votes for Defensive Player of the Year: Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams (9 votes), Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (3 votes) and Smith’s Lynx teammate, forward Napheesa Collier (2 votes).

The Lynx had three All-Stars this season, including Collier, who notably won WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in 2024 and is an MVP frontrunner this year. But head coach Cheryl Reeve was campaigning for Smith to win the league’s DPOY award this time around.

The 6-foot-4 Smith is the go-to rim protector for the Lynx, who are the top seed in this year’s playoffs and were the league’s leader in defensive rating during the regular season.

She ranked third in the W with 1.9 blocks per game, behind only Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor (2.2 blocks per game) and Wilson (2.3 blocks per game).

Additionally, Smith finished second among all players in defensive rating (96.4) and defensive win shares (2.9). She also landed in the top 10 in steal percentage (2.6%).

Smith doesn’t just make an impact on the defensive end, either. She’s a two-way threat who averaged 9.6 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game this season.

But her defensive résumé helped her share this year’s WNBA DPOY honor. Smith perhaps made her best case for the award during Collier’s seven-game absence last month.

The Lynx started that stretch with four wins in a row and went 5-2 overall. Although they allowed 80.6 points per game and posted a 105 defensive rating in that span, Smith logged 2.4 steals and 2.1 blocks per game, stepping up to help fill the defensive void left by Collier.

Smith, an Australian native who was drafted No. 8 overall out of Stanford in 2019, was part of the league’s All-Defensive Second Team in 2024.

But her being named WNBA Co-DPOY is a crowning achievement in a winding career that’s seen her play for four teams in the past five seasons.

A’ja Wilson also receives Defensive Player of the Year honor

For Wilson, the accolade is nothing new, as she’s got her name on the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award for the third time in the past four seasons.

The heartbeat of the Las Vegas Aces, Wilson helped resuscitate her team when it was middling this summer. The seven-time All-Star and three-time league MVP brought the Aces back to life with electrifying play on both ends of the floor during Vegas’ 16-game win streak to end the regular season.

In that span, Wilson averaged 2.3 blocks, 1.6 steals and 8.8 defensive rebounds per game, not to mention her 26.1 points per contest. Along the way, the Aces allowed only 76.3 points per game.

Although the Aces clocked out eighth in the league in defensive rating (101.9) this season, Wilson finished atop the W’s individual defensive rating leaderboard with a mark of 96.0.

She also led all players in defensive win shares (3.3), defensive rebounds (316) and blocks per game (2.3). Plus, she was top five in block percentage (6.4%) and steal percentage (2.7%).

Alanna Smith and A’ja Wilson named WNBA Co-Defensive Players of the Year after split vote

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