Aces Aja Wilson wins second consecutive WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award

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Las Vegas Aces star forward A’ja Wilson was named the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year for the second consecutive year Friday. Here’s what you need to know:

Wilson, a five-time All-Star, led the league with a career-high 2.2 blocks and grabbed a career-high 9.5 rebounds per game.
The Aces finished with a league-best 34-6 record and allowed 80.3 points per game, the second-fewest behind the Connecticut Sun.
Wilson, 27, is also a strong candidate to win her third MVP award after averaging a career-high 22.8 points per game

NEWS: A'ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces has won the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award for the second consecutive season. pic.twitter.com/g6QRYilS4e

— The Athletic (@TheAthletic) September 22, 2023

2023 WNBA All-Defensive First Team

2023 WNBA All-Defensive Second Team

The Athletic’s instant analysis:

Why did Wilson win DPOY?

Wilson anchored the WNBA’s top defense, as Las Vegas allowed just 97.7 points per 100 possessions during the regular season. She led the league in blocks, was fifth in steals (with 1.8 per game) and had a league-best 3.5 defensive win-shares. Not only is she able able to control the paint, but Wilson routinely demonstrated the same defensive prowess on the perimeter, when switched onto smaller players. For her efforts, she is the eighth different player to win the award more than once. — Pickman

Were there any surprises on the All-Defensive teams?

Perhaps the biggest surprise of the All-Defensive Team voting was that New York Liberty wing Betnijah Laney was not named to the first team. Laney, who had made the All-Defense First Team in 2020, routinely guarded the Liberty opponent’s top player and showed versatility no matter the opponent, matching up with players of various sizes and skill sets. “Betnijah is like our (Rebekkah) Brunson of this generation,” one player told The Athletic in our anonymous player poll.

New York finished the season with the third-best defense, and the best unit since Aug. 1. Laney had made first-team before and was among my five first-team choices on my official ballot. Still, Breanna Stewart and Laney are the first pair of teammates in Liberty franchise history to earn First and Second All-Defensive Team honors in the same season. — Pickman

Backstory

Sun forward Alyssa Thomas finished runner-up for the second straight year. Thomas led the league in rebounds and ranked third in steals.

The Aces swept the Chicago Sky in the first round of the playoffs and will start their series with the Dallas Wings on Sept. 24. Las Vegas is coming off its first championship season in 2022.

Required reading

(Photo: Juan Ocampo / NBAE via Getty Images)

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