A’ja Wilson named 2026 WNBA MVP: Aces star wins third straight, becomes first five-time honoree

A'ja Wilson has done it again. After yet another historic season, the Las Vegas Aces star was named the 2026 WNBA MVP, becoming the first five-time MVP in league history and the first player to win the award in three consecutive seasons. Though she has only just turned 30, Wilson can already stake her claim as the greatest player the WNBA has ever seen.

For the sake of comparison, in the NBA, which has been around for five more decades than the WNBA, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Bill Russell (five) and Michael Jordan (five) have won MVP five or more times. And only Russell, Wilt Chamberlain and Larry Bird have gone back-to-back-to-back.

Wilson took 65 of the 74 first-place votes, finishing ahead of Minnesota Lynx rookie Olivia Miles and Indiana Fever teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Caitlin Clark. Miles received six first-place votes while Mitchell and Clark garnered two and one, respectively.

This season, Wilson averaged 26.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.4 steals and 1.9 blocks on 52.7/40.4/86.4 shooting splits. Only a dozen made free throws prevented her from joining the vaunted 50/40/90 club; her 62.5% true shooting was 6.4% above the league average.

Her 26.2 points per game were…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/