# WNBA Most Valuable Player Award

Women's National Basketball Association awards and honors :
Championship :
WNBA Finals :
Commissioner's Cup Champions :
WNBA Commissioner's Cup :
Individual awards :
All-Star Game MVP
Rookie of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Coach of the Year
Finals MVP
Dawn Staley Leadership
Most Valuable Player
Most Improved Player
Peak Performers
Sixth Player of the Year
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship
Basketball Executive of the Year :
Honors :
All-WNBA Team
Top 15 Players
Top 25 Players
All-Rookie Team
WNBA All-Decade Team
Top 20 Players
All-Defensive Team :
vte :
The Women's National Basketball Association Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season in 1997. MVP voting takes place immediately following the regular season. 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, 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, Lisa Leslie, Lauren Jackson and A'ja Wilson have won the award the most times, with three selections each. Two players have won the award with different franchises—Elena Delle Donne in 2015 with the Chicago Sky and 2019 with the Washington Mystics, and Breanna Stewart 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 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
### Legend

| | Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA |
| * | Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame |
| † | Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame |
| | Denotes player whose team won championship that year |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has been named MVP |
| Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
| Season | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | First-Place Votes |
| 1997 | Cynthia Cooper * † | Guard | United States | Houston Comets | 37 out of 37 |
| 1998 | Cynthia Cooper * † (2) | Guard | United States | Houston Comets (2) | 37 out of 45 |
| 1999 | Yolanda Griffith * † | Center | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | 23 out of 51 |
| 2000 | Sheryl Swoopes * † | Guard / Forward | United States | Houston Comets (3) | 38 out of 62 |
| 2001 | Lisa Leslie * † | Center | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | 51 out of 60 |
| 2002 | Sheryl Swoopes * † (2) | Guard / Forward | United States | Houston Comets (4) | 29 out of 60 |
| 2003 | Lauren Jackson * † | Forward / Center | Australia | Seattle Storm | 23 out of 54 |
| 2004 | Lisa Leslie * † (2) | Center | United States | Los Angeles Sparks (2) | 33 out of 48 |
| 2005 | Sheryl Swoopes * † (3) | Guard / Forward | United States | Houston Comets (5) | 16 out of 50 |
| 2006 | Lisa Leslie * † (3) | Center | United States | Los Angeles Sparks (3) | 40 out of 55 |
| 2007 | Lauren Jackson * † (2) | Forward / Center | Australia | Seattle Storm (2) | 42 out of 48 |
| 2008 | Candace Parker | Forward | United States | Los Angeles Sparks (4) | 276.79 out of 300 pts |
| 2009 | Diana Taurasi | Guard | United States | Phoenix Mercury | 27 out of 39 |
| 2010 | Lauren Jackson * † (3) | Forward / Center | Australia | Seattle Storm (3) | 22 out of 39 |
| 2011 | Tamika Catchings * † | Forward | United States | Indiana Fever | 21 out of 40 |
| 2012 | Tina Charles | Center | United States | Connecticut Sun | 25 out of 41 |
| 2013 | Candace Parker (2) | Forward | United States | Los Angeles Sparks (5) | 10 out of 39 |
| 2014 | Maya Moore † | Forward | United States | Minnesota Lynx | 35 out of 38 |
| 2015 | Elena Delle Donne | Guard / Forward | United States | Chicago Sky | 38 out of 39 |
| 2016 | Nneka Ogwumike | Forward | United States | Los Angeles Sparks (6) | 31 out of 39 |
| 2017 | Sylvia Fowles | Center | United States | Minnesota Lynx (2) | 35 out of 40 |
| 2018 | Breanna Stewart | Forward | United States | Seattle Storm (4) | 33 out of 39 |
| 2019 | Elena Delle Donne (2) | Guard / Forward | United States | Washington Mystics | 41 out of 43 |
| 2020 | A'ja Wilson | Forward | United States | Las Vegas Aces | 43 out of 47 |
| 2021 | Jonquel Jones | Forward / Center | Bahamas / Bosnia and Herzegovina | Connecticut Sun (2) | 48 out of 49 |
| 2022 | A'ja Wilson (2) | Forward | United States | Las Vegas Aces (2) | 31 out of 56 |
| 2023 | Breanna Stewart (2) | Forward | United States | New York Liberty | 20 out of 60 |
| 2024 | A'ja Wilson (3) | Forward | United States | Las Vegas Aces (3) | 67 out of 67 |
* ↑ Second-place finisher, Lauren Jackson, received more first-place votes (20 to Swoopes' 16), but Swoopes earned 327 total points to Jackson's 325.
* ↑ First-place vote counts were not released by the WNBA. For the first time, an online fan vote was included in post-season award voting, accounting for 25% of the vote. The other 75% came from a panel of 45 national sportswriters and broadcasters.
* ↑ Parker and Maya Moore tied in first-place voting with 10 votes each. However in the overall vote tally, Parker earned 234 total points to Moore's 218.
* ↑ Second-place finisher, Alyssa Thomas, received more first-place votes (23 to Stewart's 20), but Stewart earned 446 total points to Thomas' 439.

## Multi-time winners

| Awards | Player | Team(s) | Years |
| 3 | Sheryl Swoopes | Houston Comets | 2000, 2002, 2005 |
| 3 | Lisa Leslie | Los Angeles Sparks | 2001, 2004, 2006 |
| 3 | Lauren Jackson | Seattle Storm | 2003, 2007, 2010 |
| 3 | A'ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces | 2020, 2022, 2024 |
| 2 | Cynthia Cooper | Houston Comets | 1997, 1998 |
| 2 | Candace Parker | Los Angeles Sparks | 2008, 2013 |
| 2 | Elena Delle Donne | Chicago Sky / Washington Mystics | 2015, 2019 |
| 2 | Breanna Stewart | Seattle Storm / New York Liberty | 2018, 2023 |

## Teams

| Awards | Teams | Years |
| 6 | Los Angeles Sparks | 2001, 2004, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2016 |
| 5 | Houston Comets | 1997, 1998, 2000, 2002, 2005 |
| 4 | Seattle Storm | 2003, 2007, 2010, 2018 |
| 3 | Las Vegas Aces | 2020, 2022, 2024 |
| 2 | Minnesota Lynx | 2014, 2017 |
| 2 | Connecticut Sun | 2012, 2021 |
| 1 | Sacramento Monarchs | 1999 |
| 1 | Phoenix Mercury | 2009 |
| 1 | Indiana Fever | 2011 |
| 1 | Chicago Sky | 2015 |
| 1 | Washington Mystics | 2019 |
| 1 | New York Liberty | 2023 |
| 0 | Dallas Wings | None |
| 0 | Atlanta Dream | None |