The 2023 WNBA MVP race was one of the most hotly contested in recent memory, as Breanna Stewart, A’ja Wilson, and Alyssa Thomas all made tremendous cases for themselves as being the best player in the league.
Ultimately, the panel of voters selected Stewart in her first season with the New York Liberty as this year’s MVP, edging out Wilson and Thomas in the voting after a season in which she averaged 23.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.6 blocks, and 1.5 steals per game for the 2-seeded Liberty.
Stew York & MVP go well together
@breannastewart is your 2023 #WNBA @Kia Most Valuable Player
Stewie averaged 23.0 PPG, 9.3 RPG & 3.8 APG to lead the #2 @nyliberty to a 32-8 regular szn record & a Commissioner’s Cup Championship in her 1st year with the franchise#KiaMVP pic.twitter.com/jdwwWDQxGc
— WNBA (@WNBA) September 26, 2023
It is the second MVP win for Stewart in her career, as she took home the 2018 MVP award while with the Seattle Storm. This year’s award certainly comes with a bit more debate as all three of Stewart, Wilson, and Thomas put forth MVP-caliber seasons. For Thomas, the argument was her all-around dominance for the Sun, helping them earn the 3-seed in the league by averaging 15.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.8 steals per game. For Wilson, her case to take home back-to-back MVPs (and her third overall) was very similar to Stewart’s, averaging 22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 2.2 blocks per game, leading the Aces once again to the WNBA’s best record.
Ultimately, Stewart ended up narrowly beating out those two, despite Thomas actually getting the most first place votes (23), but Stewart finished with more overall points (446) than Thomas (439) and Wilson (436) in one of the tightest awards races in league history.
The voting breakdown: https://t.co/CiXZEbhewi pic.twitter.com/uCDuXji8TX
— Alexa Philippou (@alexaphilippou) September 26, 2023
There will be plenty of debate about whether the voters got it right, and it will only add fuel to the current WNBA semifinal between Stewart’s Liberty and Thomas’ Sun, with Connecticut taking Game 1 and stealing homecourt in the series.