WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award

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The Women's National Basketball Association's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season -- 1997, to the top defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters 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.

Tamika Catchings has won the defensive player of the year award more times than any other player with the record of 5.[1]

Winners[edit]

Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA
Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial 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 Position Nationality Team
1997 Teresa Weatherspoon Guard  United States New York Liberty
1998 Teresa Weatherspoon (2) Guard  United States New York Liberty (2)
1999 Yolanda Griffith Center  United States Sacramento Monarchs
2000 Sheryl Swoopes Guard / Forward  United States Houston Comets
2001 Debbie Black Guard  United States Miami Sol
2002 Sheryl Swoopes (2) Guard / Forward  United States Houston Comets (2)
2003 Sheryl Swoopes (3) Guard / Forward  United States Houston Comets (3)
2004 Lisa Leslie Center  United States Los Angeles Sparks
2005 Tamika Catchings Forward  United States Indiana Fever
2006 Tamika Catchings (2) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (2)
2007 Lauren Jackson Forward / Center  Australia Seattle Storm
2008 Lisa Leslie (2) Center[2]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (2)
2009 Tamika Catchings (3) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (3)
2010 Tamika Catchings (4) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (4)
2011 Sylvia Fowles Center[3]  United States Chicago Sky
2012 Tamika Catchings (5) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (5)
2013 Sylvia Fowles (2) Center[3]  United States Chicago Sky (2)
2014 Brittney Griner Center  United States Phoenix Mercury
2015 Brittney Griner (2) Center  United States Phoenix Mercury (2)
2016 Sylvia Fowles (3) Center[3]  United States Minnesota Lynx
2017 Alana Beard Guard / Forward[4]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (3)
2018 Alana Beard (2) Guard / Forward[5]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (4)
2019 Natasha Howard Guard / Forward[6]  United States Seattle Storm (2)
2020 Candace Parker Forward / Center[7]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (5)
2021 Sylvia Fowles (4) Center[8]  United States Minnesota Lynx (2)
2022 A'ja Wilson Forward[9]  United States Las Vegas Aces
2023 A'ja Wilson (2) Forward[10]  United States Las Vegas Aces

Multi-time winners[edit]

Awards Player Team(s) Years
5 Tamika Catchings Indiana Fever 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012
4 Sylvia Fowles Chicago Sky / Minnesota Lynx 2011, 2013, 2016, 2021
3 Sheryl Swoopes Houston Comets 2000, 2002, 2003
2 Teresa Weatherspoon New York Liberty 1997, 1998
Lisa Leslie Los Angeles Sparks 2004, 2008
Brittney Griner Phoenix Mercury 2014, 2015
Alana Beard Los Angeles Sparks 2017, 2018
A'ja Wilson Las Vegas Aces 2022, 2023

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Saying Goodbye to WNBA Great Tamika Catchings". Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  2. ^ "WNBA.com: Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie Named 2008 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  3. ^ a b c "Sylvia Fowles wins WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
  4. ^ "Los Angeles' Alana Beard Named 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 12, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
  5. ^ "Sparks' Alana Beard Named 2018 Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
  6. ^ "Seattle's Natasha Howard Named 2019 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  7. ^ "Candace Parker Named 2020 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
  8. ^ "Sylvia Fowles Named 2021 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  9. ^ "Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson Named 2022 Kia WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
  10. ^ "Aces star A'ja Wilson wins second straight DPOY award". ESPN. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.