Las Vegas Aces center-forward A’ja Wilson has been named the 2024 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player, the WNBA announced today.
This marks the record-tying third Kia WNBA MVP Award for Wilson, who also earned the honor in 2020 and 2022. She is the fourth player in WNBA history to win three MVPs, joining Sheryl Swoopes (2000, 2002 and 2005), Lisa Leslie (2001, 2004 and 2006) and Lauren Jackson (2003, 2007 and 2010).
Wilson received all 67 first-place votes (670 points) from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, making her the first unanimous Kia WNBA MVP since the Houston Comets’ Cynthia Cooper in the league’s inaugural season of 1997.
Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) finished in second place, followed by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (295 points) in third place, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (130 points) in fourth place and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (83 points) in fifth place. Players were awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for a second-place vote, five points for a third-place vote, three points for a fourth-place vote and one point for a fifth-place vote.
In her seventh WNBA season, Wilson averaged 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.58 blocked shots and 1.79 steals in 34.4 minutes in 38 games. She ranked first in the WNBA in both points and blocks, second in rebounds, fifth in steals and fourth in minutes, setting career highs in all five per-game categories. Wilson also finished seventh in the league in field goal percentage (51.8) and 17th in free throw percentage (84.4).
The 6-4 Wilson broke the WNBA single-season record for scoring average, which had been set by Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi in 2006 (25.3 ppg). Wilson also set single-season records with 1,021 total points and 451 total rebounds. She is the first player to lead the WNBA in total points, rebounds and blocks (98) in a season.
Behind Wilson, the two-time defending WNBA champion Aces (27-13) earned the fourth seed in the 2024 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google. Las Vegas will host the Seattle Storm in Game 1 of a first-round playoff series tonight at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN.
In the 2024 regular season, Wilson was named the Kia WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month four times (May, June, July and September) and the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week six times (Weeks 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12). A six-time WNBA All-Star, Wilson played for the USA Women’s National Team in the 2024 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game before leading the United States to the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, where she was honored as the MVP of the tournament.
Additional highlights of Wilson’s 2024 season include:
*Recorded the two highest-scoring games of the WNBA season, with 42 points against the Dallas Wings on Aug. 27 and 41 points against the Mercury on Sept. 1.
*Scored at least 20 points in 89.5% of her games (34 of 38), a WNBA single-season record.
*Grabbed 9.8 defensive rebounds per game, the highest single-season average in WNBA history.
*Posted the third-highest rebounding average in a WNBA season (11.87), behind No. 1 Angel Reese (13.1 rpg with the Chicago Sky in 2024) and No. 2 Sylvia Fowles (11.88 with the Minnesota Lynx in 2018).
*Finished with 24 points and a career-high 20 rebounds against the Storm on July 10 for the first 20-20 game of her career.
*Became the second player in WNBA history to have at least 25 points, 15 rebounds, five assists and five blocks in a game (vs. the Atlanta Dream on Aug. 30), joining Candace Parker (2008).
*Set WNBA single-season records for consecutive games with 20 or more points (15) and consecutive games with at least 20 points and 10 rebounds (eight).
*Became the Aces’ franchise leader in both total points and total rebounds.
*Led the WNBA in steals-per-turnover ratio (1.42 to 1) and had a career-low 1.3 turnovers per game.
*In August, Wilson won the 2024 Dawn Staley Community Leadership Award for her dedication and positive impact on the community. Dawn Staley was the head coach for all four of Wilson’s seasons at the University of South Carolina, where the two won a national championship together in the 2016-17 season and Wilson was a four-time All-America Team selection.
Wilson was selected by the Aces with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm. She led the franchise to its first two WNBA championships, in 2022 and 2023, earning the WNBA Finals MVP Award last season. Among her accolades, Wilson has been the Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year, the Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year twice and an All-WNBA Team selection four times.
In honor of being named the 2024 Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player, Wilson will receive $15,450 and a specially designed trophy by Tiffany & Co.