A'ja Wilson wins record fifth WNBA MVP, third in a row
Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson was named WNBA Most Valuable Player on Thursday for a record fifth time and the third year in a row. No other WNBA player has more than three. She now faces elimination Friday night, with the Aces down 2-0 to Golden State in the semifinals at 9:30 p.m. ET on Peacock.
A'ja Wilson has done something no WNBA player had done before, as the Las Vegas Aces center was named Most Valuable Player on Thursday for the fifth time and the third straight year, the first three-peat in league history, The Associated Press reported.
Wilson also won the award in 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025, and no other player in league history has more than three, the total shared by Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson.
The vote was not close, as Wilson received 65 first-place votes and nine second-place votes for 713 points from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles finished second with 442 points, while Indiana Fever guards Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark followed with 287 and 212 points.
The 30-year-old led the league in scoring for a third straight season at 26.2 points per game while shooting nearly 53% from the field. She also averaged 9.4 rebounds, a career-best 3.2 assists and a league-leading 1.9 blocks, and she scored in double figures in all 41 games she played, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported.
The news came as a surprise at the end of practice, when Commissioner Cathy Engelbert walked up holding a rotary phone that played a recorded message from former Vice President Kamala Harris. "This one here, I cried a little bit harder," Wilson said.
Wilson joins a short list across basketball, since in the NBA only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, with six, and Michael Jordan and Bill Russell, with five each, have won at least five MVP awards.
The celebration will be brief, because the defending champion Aces trail the Golden State Valkyries 2-0 in the best-of-five semifinals and must win Game 3 on Friday in Las Vegas to stay alive. Wilson has scored 24 points in each game of the series but has made only 17 of her 37 shots, CBS Sports reported.
"Everyone knows that one of my main focuses is to get a game," Wilson said, adding that she would skip a big trophy moment with fans before Game 3 to stay with her team.
Game 3 tips off at 9:30 p.m. ET on Peacock and NBCSN.
What we know: Wilson won her record fifth MVP award by a wide margin.
What we don't: Whether the Aces can avoid a sweep on Friday night.
Where outlets agree AP and SLAM both report that Wilson won with 713 points and that runner-up Olivia Miles finished with 442.
Where they differ The outlets cited here report the same key facts so far.