Women's National Basketball Association awards and honors |
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Championship |
Commissioner's Cup Champions |
Individual awards |
Honors |
The Women's National Basketball Association's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season -- 1997, to the top defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
Tamika Catchings has won the defensive player of the year award more times than any other player with the record of 5.[1]
This section may overuse or misuse colour, making it hard to understand for colour-blind users. |
Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA | |
Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | |
Denotes player whose team won championship that year | |
Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has won |
Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
Awards | Player | Team(s) | Years |
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5 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 |
4 | Sylvia Fowles | Chicago Sky / Minnesota Lynx | 2011, 2013, 2016, 2021 |
3 | Sheryl Swoopes | Houston Comets | 2000, 2002, 2003 |
2 | Teresa Weatherspoon | New York Liberty | 1997, 1998 |
Lisa Leslie | Los Angeles Sparks | 2004, 2008 | |
Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury | 2014, 2015 | |
Alana Beard | Los Angeles Sparks | 2017, 2018 | |
A'ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces | 2022, 2023 |