current location:HOME > Sports News > Basketball Hub > Text content

Aces' A’ja Wilson named 2023 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year

nqajqrqw7months ago (05-18)Basketball Hub143

Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson hasbeen named the 2023 Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, the WNBAannounced today. This is the second WNBA Defensive Player of theYear Award for Wilson, who also earned the honor lastseason.

Wilson received 32 votes from anational panel of 60 sportswriters and broadcasters.For thesecond consecutive year, Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomasfinished in second place (24 votes). Washington Mystics guardBrittney Sykes was third (three votes), and New York Libertyguard-forward Betnijah Laney received one vote.

In her sixth WNBA season, Wilson ledthe league with a career-high 2.23 blocks per game, ranked third indefensive rebounds per game (7.5) and was 10thinsteals per game (1.40). Wilson grabbed at least 10 defensiverebounds in a game nine times. She also recorded nine games with atleast four blocks and 10 games with at least threesteals.

Behind Wilson, Las Vegas (34-6) set aWNBA single-season record for victories and earned the No. 1 seedin the 2023 WNBA Playoffs presented by Google. The Aces have sinceadvanced to the WNBA Semifinals and will host Game 1 of theirSemifinals series against the Dallas Wings on Sunday, Sept. 24 (5p.m. ET, ESPN2).

The 6-4 Wilson helped Las Vegas leadthe league in defensive rating (97.7), blocks (4.78 bpg) anddefensive rebound percentage (73.3) and rank second in fewestpoints allowed (80.3 ppg) and opponent field goal percentage(42.6).

Wilson ranked third in the WNBA inscoring (22.8 ppg) and second in rebounding (9.5 rpg), recordingcareer highs in each category. The five-time WNBA All-Star alsoshot a career-best 55.7 percent from the field, the third-highestmark in the league.

Wilson, the 2020 and 2022 Kia WNBAMVP, finished with the most fan votes for the AT&T WNBAAll-Star Game for the second consecutive year. She led Team Wilsonagainst Team Stewart in the All-Star Game on July 15 at MichelobUltra Arena in Las Vegas.

In honor of being named the 2023 KiaWNBA Defensive Player of the Year, Wilson will receive $5,150 andatrophy designed to commemorate the achievement.

Below are the voting results for the2023 Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award:

Wilson was also selected to thisseason's All-Defensive First Team, the WNBA announced today.

Share with friends:

“Aces' A’ja Wilson named 2023 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year” ofrelated articles

LeBron James becomes first NBA player to score 40,000 points

The King has made NBA historyyet again.LeBron James just became thefirst player in NBA history to reach 40,000 points, a testament tohis 21 years of s...

NBA buyout rumors: 76ers linked to Kyle Lowry, Spencer Dinwiddie

The trade-deadline madness is officially over for thePhiladelphia 76ers, and they ended up making fewer moves thananticipated. Their total haul was Bu...

Luka Doncic, Kyrie Irving combine for 69 points as Mavs defeat Wolves

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving puton a scoring clinic on Sunday night to lead the Dallas Mavericks toa victory over the No. 1 seed in the West, the Minn...

In-Season Tourney Championship: Most-watched non-Christmas game since 2018

The Los Angeles Lakers' victory overthe Indiana Pacers in Saturday's inaugural NBA In-Season TournamentChampionship Game from Las Vegas averaged 4,580...

Dennis Smith Jr. and Kris Dunn are NBA's paragons of persistence

For some NBA players, thingsdon’t click right away. But a rookie struggling is no reason tofret; most rookies in the NBA are, to put it bluntly, kind...

Shawn Marion on Suns retiring his jersey, near-trade to Celtics, more

Shawn Marion on Suns retiring his jersey, near-trade to Celtics, more

Last week, NBA legend Shawn Marion traveled to Abu Dhabi tosupport the 2023 NBA Abu Dhabi Games, which featured two preseasongames between the Dallas...