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A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces has won the 2023 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award. Wilson has now clinched the award two years in a row. This makes her only the eighth player to earn the DPOY award multiple times.
According to the league announcement, Wilson also received a nod to the First Team All-Defensive team. She helped anchor the defense for the Las Vegas Aces, who were the best defensive team in the league.
Wilson led the league with 2.23 blocks per game, came third in defensive rebounds with 7.5 and 10th in steals with 1.4.
Wilson shared the award with her teammates, telling ESPN:
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"Winning in college, I was like, 'Ok, cool.' But winning at this level feels different because these are pros, world-class elite women. I'm excited to share it with my teammates."
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Who made the WNBA 2023 All-Defensive teams?
The 2023 WNBA All-Defensive First Team selections also included Connecticut Sun's Alyssa Thomas, Brittney Sykes from the Washington Mystics, Jordin Canada from the Los Angeles Sparks And New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart.
It was a special day for New York Liberty. In addition to Stewart's first-team selection, Betnijah Laney was also selected to the All-Defensive Second Team. Laney played a crucial role in the team's defense, which ranked third in the league.
The two are the first teammates in the Liberty's history to get First and Second All-defensive team selections.
The All-Defensive Second Team also featured Ezi Magbegor from the Seattle Storm, Los Angeles Sparks' Nneka Ogwumike, Minnesota Lynx's Napheesa Collier and Elizabeth Williams from the Chicago Sky.
The WNBA opted to go with a positionless selection system for the All-defensive teams this season. However, the first team still ended up with a traditional set-up with two guards and three frontcourt players making the cut. The second-team selections had only one guard and four frontcourt players.
The Las Vegas Aces will be resuming their championship campaign in a semi-final duel against the Dallas Wings, while New York Liberty will be taking on Connecticut Sun.
