Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson has been named the 2022 WNBA Most Valuable Player, the WNBA announced.
This is the second time Wilson wins the honor. She became the seventh player in WNBA history to win the award multiple times, joining three-time winners Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes and two-time winners Cynthia Cooper, Elena Delle Donne and Candace Parker.
Wilson is also the fifth player to win the WNBA MVP and WNBA Defensive Player of the Year awards in the same season, and the first to do it since Lauren Jackson in 2007. Wilson received 31 of 56 first-place votes and 478 total points from a national panel of 56 sportswriters and broadcasters.
MVP, MVP, MVP 🗣️@_ajawilson22 was dominant all season long for the @LVAces and earns @Kia MVP honors for the 2nd time in her career.
THE MOST VALUABLE PLAYER 👑
🎵: Pick 6 by Dillen | @unitedmasters pic.twitter.com/VbvJ9ofC6B
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 7, 2022
In her fifth WNBA season, Wilson ranked fifth in the WNBA in scoring (19.5 ppg) and second in rebounding (9.4 rpg) in 36 games. The four-time WNBA All-Star shot 50.1 percent from the field and led the league in double-doubles (17).
Wilson, a native of Hopkins, S.C., who played collegiately at the University of South Carolina, was selected by the Aces with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 WNBA Draft. Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart finished in second place 446 points. Kelsey Plum, teammate of Wilson, finished in third place with 181 points.
The Aces clinched their place in the WNBA Finals after beating the Seattle Storm in best-of-five series. Las Vegas will either face the Chicago Sky or the Connecticut Sun.
