A’ja Wilson, Alanna Smith Share 2025 WNBA DPOY Award

Las Vegas Aces star center A’ja Wilson was voted WNBA Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday for the third time in four seasons, sharing the award this time with Alanna Smith of the Minnesota Lynx.

Smith and Wilson will each receive $5,150 and a trophy designed to commemorate the achievement.

Each player received 29 votes from the 72 media members who participated. It’s the first time in WNBA history the award went to more than one player.

A’ja Wilson Ties Sheryl Swoopes For Third-Most Awards

Wilson, who also won the award in 2022 and 2023, tied Sheryl Swoopes for the third-most DPOY awards. Tamika Catchings owns the record with five, and Sylvia Fowles is next with four.

Smith is also the third Lynx player to be named the DPOY, joining Fowles and teammate Napheesa Collier. The Lynx are the first WNBA franchise to have two different players win the award in consecutive seasons.

Seattle Storm guard Gabby Williams finished in second place with nine votes, Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas was third with three votes, and Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier was fourth with two votes.

Per Basketball Reference, Wilson led the league in points (23.4) and blocks (2.3) per game, as well as player efficiency rating (33.4%). She was third with 7.9 defensive rebounds, and finished fourth with 1.6 steals.

In her eighth season, Wilson started all 40 games she appeared in for Las Vegas while averaging 31.2 minutes per game. She helped the Aces secure the No. 2 seed in the WNBA playoffs following a 16-game win streak to close out the regular season.

Alanna Smith Led Lynx To No. 1 Seed

Smith, meanwhile, propelled Minnesota to a league-best 97.5 defensive rating.

The former first-rounder matched her career high with six blocks at Washington on June 24. She was second in combined steals and blocks with 135 and third in average blocks with 1.9 and total blocks with 80.

Smith’s block percentage (6.6) was second only to the Seattle’s Ezi Magbegor, and she was instrumental in leading the Lynx to the No. 1 seed in the WNBA playoffs.

According to WNBA.com, she held opponents to 39.2% shooting in the paint outside of the restricted area, and players only shot 32.4% on 3-pointers above the break when matched up against her.

Wilson and Collier are the front-runners for MVP, which will be announced Sunday. Wilson’s also expected to be named an All-WNBA first-teamer for the fifth time when those honors are revealed Oct. 7.