# WNBA Most Improved 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's Most Improved Player Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 2000 WNBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
In 2019, Leilani Mitchell became the first player in history to win the award twice, after winning the award in 2010. In 2004, there was a tie -- both Kelly Miller and Wendy Palmer received the award. Nicole Powell, Natasha Howard, and Jackie Young are the only players to win the Most Improved award and a WNBA title in the same year.

## Winners

| | 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 won |
| Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
| Season | Player | Yrs | Position | Nationality | Team | First-Place Votes |
| 2000 | Tari Phillips | 2 | Forward / Center | United States | New York Liberty | 19 out of 62 |
| 2001 | Janeth Arcain | 5 | Guard | Brazil | Houston Comets | 25 out of 60 |
| 2002 | Coco Miller | 2 | Guard | United States | Washington Mystics | 14 out of 60 |
| 2003 | Michelle Snow | 2 | Forward / Center | United States | Houston Comets (2) | 22 out of 53 |
| 2004 | Kelly Miller | 4 | Guard | United States | Indiana Fever | 9 out of 48 (tie) |
| 2004 | Wendy Palmer | 8 | Forward | United States | Connecticut Sun | 9 out of 48 (tie) |
| 2005 | Nicole Powell | 2 | Forward | United States | Sacramento Monarchs | 20 out of 49 |
| 2006 | Erin Buescher | 5 | Forward | United States | Sacramento Monarchs (2) | 28 out of 56 |
| 2007 | Janel McCarville | 3 | Center | United States | New York Liberty (2) | 33 out of 51 |
| 2008 | Ebony Hoffman | 5 | Forward | United States | Indiana Fever (2) | 31 out of 44 |
| 2009 | Crystal Langhorne | 2 | Forward | United States | Washington Mystics (2) | 19 out of 40 |
| 2010 | Leilani Mitchell | 3 | Guard | Australia | New York Liberty (3) | 29 out of 39 |
| 2011 | Kia Vaughn | 3 | Center | United States | New York Liberty (4) | 15 out of 40 |
| 2012 | Kristi Toliver | 4 | Guard | United States | Los Angeles Sparks | 24 out of 41 |
| 2013 | Shavonte Zellous | 5 | Guard | United States | Indiana Fever (3) | 30 out of 39 |
| 2014 | Skylar Diggins-Smith | 2 | Guard | United States | Tulsa Shock | 29 out of 38 |
| 2015 | Kelsey Bone | 3 | Center | United States | Connecticut Sun (2) | 14 out of 39 |
| 2016 | Elizabeth Williams | 2 | Forward / Center | United States | Atlanta Dream | 14 out of 39 |
| 2017 | Jonquel Jones | 2 | Forward / Center | Bahamas | Connecticut Sun (3) | 32 out of 40 |
| 2018 | Natasha Howard | 5 | Forward | United States | Seattle Storm | 29 out of 39 |
| 2019 | Leilani Mitchell (2) | 11 | Guard | Australia | Phoenix Mercury | 27 out of 43 |
| 2020 | Betnijah Laney | 5 | Forward / Guard | United States | Atlanta Dream (2) | 25 out of 47 |
| 2021 | Brionna Jones | 5 | Forward | United States | Connecticut Sun (4) | 38 out of 49 |
| 2022 | Jackie Young | 4 | Guard | United States | Las Vegas Aces | 32 out of 56 |
| 2023 | Satou Sabally | 4 | Forward | Germany | Dallas Wings | 37 out of 60 |
| 2024 | DiJonai Carrington | 4 | Guard | United States | Connecticut Sun (5) | 28 out of 67 |

### Notes

* ↑ Played in league (including season in which award was given to player)
* 1 2 Leilani Mitchell was born as a dual citizen of the United States and Australia. She represents Australia internationally.
* ↑ Kia Vaughn was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of the Czech Republic. She has represented the Czech Republic internationally since 2017.
* ↑ Kristi Toliver was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of Slovakia. She has represented Slovakia internationally since 2014.
* ↑ Shavonte Zellous was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of Croatia. She has represented Croatia internationally since 2015.
* ↑ Elizabeth Williams was born in the United Kingdom and is a naturalized citizen of the United States. She has represented the United States internationally since 2009.
* ↑ Jonquel Jones was born in the Bahamas and is a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has represented Bosnia and Herzegovina internationally since 2019.
* ↑ Satou Sabally was born in the United States to Gambian and German parents, and is a citizen by birth of all three countries. She represents Germany internationally.