That means the race for WNBA Most Valuable Player is heating up, with Las Vegas Aces’ standout center A’Ja Wilson and Indiana Fever’s electric rookie Caitlin Clark as the front-runners to claim the women’s league’s highest regular season honor.
Here’s where the WNBA MVP race stands with just weeks to go in the regular season.
Will A’ja Wilson win WNBA MVP?
A’ja Wilson, who set a new WNBA rebounding record this season, has long been considered the favorite to win the MVP.
Wilson improved her case by helping lead the U.S. women’s basketball team to its eighth consecutive Olympic gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
That team trailed multiple times and were constantly heckled by a raucous crowd that both loved Les Bleues and was eager to see chaos.
But the U.S. women’s streak wasn’t going to end on Wilson’s watch.
“She was incredible,” Kelsey Plum, who is also teammates with Wilson on the Las Vegas Aces, said after the Americans beat France 67-66. “But that’s who she is.”
Wilson was named the Olympic tournament MVP. She was No. 2 in scoring and rebounds, and led the 12-team field in blocks.
Against France, she finished with 21 points and 13 rebounds, both game highs. She also had four blocks, including two monster ones early in the third quarter that kept France from pulling away when the Americans couldn’t buy a bucket.
Caitlin Clark makes push for WNBA MVP
Caitlin Clark, already one of the favorites to win WNBA rookie of the year honors alongside Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese, is ramping up her late-season push for WNBA MVP.
Clark overcame an early injury while her team powered past the Atlanta Dream 84-79 on Monday, Aug. 26.
Clark finished the night with 19 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, two steals, one block and two turnovers. She shot 6-for-14 on the night and 4-for-9 from beyond the arc. With her four made threes, Clark now has 85 made 3-pointers in her rookie season, tying Dream guard and 2022 first overall pick Rhyne Howard for most 3-pointers by a rookie.
