WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award

Annual basketball award

Women's National Basketball Association awards and honors

Championship

* WNBA Finals

Commissioner's Cup Champions

* WNBA Commissioner's Cup

Individual awards

* All-Star Game MVP
* Rookie of the Year
* Defensive Player of the Year
* Coach of the Year
* Finals MVP
* Dawn Staley Leadership

* Most Valuable Player
* Most Improved Player
* Peak Performers
* Sixth Player of the Year
* Kim Perrot Sportsmanship
* Basketball Executive of the Year

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Honors

* All-WNBA Team
* Top 15 Players
* Top 25 Players
* All-Rookie Team

* WNBA All-Decade Team
* Top 20 Players
* All-Defensive Team

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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]

## Winners

[edit]

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| Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA

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| 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
Season  | Player  | Position  | Nationality  | Team

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1997 | Teresa Weatherspoon | Guard |  United States | New York Liberty
1998 | Teresa Weatherspoon (2) | Guard |  United States | New York Liberty (2)
1999 | Yolanda Griffith | Center |  United States | Sacramento Monarchs
2000 | Sheryl Swoopes | Guard / Forward |  United States | Houston Comets
2001 | Debbie Black | Guard |  United States | Miami Sol
2002 | Sheryl Swoopes (2) | Guard / Forward |  United States | Houston Comets (2)
2003 | Sheryl Swoopes (3) | Guard / Forward |  United States | Houston Comets (3)
2004 | Lisa Leslie | Center |  United States | Los Angeles Sparks
2005 | Tamika Catchings | Forward |  United States | Indiana Fever
2006 | Tamika Catchings (2) | Forward |  United States | Indiana Fever (2)
2007 | Lauren Jackson | Forward / Center |  Australia | Seattle Storm
2008 | Lisa Leslie (2) | Center[2] |  United States | Los Angeles Sparks (2)
2009 | Tamika Catchings (3) | Forward |  United States | Indiana Fever (3)
2010 | Tamika Catchings (4) | Forward |  United States | Indiana Fever (4)
2011 | Sylvia Fowles | Center[3] |  United States | Chicago Sky
2012 | Tamika Catchings (5) | Forward |  United States | Indiana Fever (5)
2013 | Sylvia Fowles (2) | Center[3] |  United States | Chicago Sky (2)
2014 | Brittney Griner | Center |  United States | Phoenix Mercury
2015 | Brittney Griner (2) | Center |  United States | Phoenix Mercury (2)
2016 | Sylvia Fowles (3) | Center[3] |  United States | Minnesota Lynx
2017 | Alana Beard | Guard / Forward[4] |  United States | Los Angeles Sparks (3)
2018 | Alana Beard (2) | Guard / Forward[5] |  United States | Los Angeles Sparks (4)
2019 | Natasha Howard | Guard / Forward[6] |  United States | Seattle Storm (2)
2020 | Candace Parker | Forward / Center[7] |  United States | Los Angeles Sparks (5)
2021 | Sylvia Fowles (4) | Center[8] |  United States | Minnesota Lynx (2)
2022 | A'ja Wilson | Forward[9] |  United States | Las Vegas Aces
2023 | A'ja Wilson (2) | Forward[10] |  United States | Las Vegas Aces (2)
2024 | Napheesa Collier | Forward[11] |  United States | Minnesota Lynx (3)

## Multi-time winners

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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

## See also

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* List of sports awards honoring women

## References

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1. ^ "Saying Goodbye to WNBA Great Tamika Catchings". Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
2. ^ "WNBA.com: Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie Named 2008 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". www.wnba.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
3. ^ a b c "Sylvia Fowles wins WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". September 30, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.[permanent dead link‍]
4. ^ "Los Angeles' Alana Beard Named 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
5. ^ "Sparks' Alana Beard Named 2018 Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. August 30, 2018. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
6. ^ "Seattle's Natasha Howard Named 2019 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. September 11, 2019. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
7. ^ "Candace Parker Named 2020 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
8. ^ "Sylvia Fowles Named 2021 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
9. ^ "Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson Named 2022 Kia WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. August 30, 2022. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
10. ^ "Aces star A'ja Wilson wins second straight DPOY award". ESPN. September 22, 2023. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
11. ^ "Napheesa Collier Named 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". Minnesota Lynx. September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.

* "WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". Retrieved January 19, 2009.

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WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners

* 1997: Weatherspoon
* 1998: Weatherspoon
* 1999: Griffith
* 2000: Swoopes
* 2001: Black
* 2002: Swoopes
* 2003: Swoopes
* 2004: Leslie
* 2005: Catchings
* 2006: Catchings
* 2007: Jackson
* 2008: Leslie
* 2009: Catchings
* 2010: Catchings
* 2011: Fowles
* 2012: Catchings
* 2013: Fowles
* 2014: Griner
* 2015: Griner
* 2016: Fowles
* 2017: Beard
* 2018: Beard
* 2019: Howard
* 2020: Parker
* 2021: Fowles
* 2022: Wilson
* 2023: Wilson
* 2024: Collier

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Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)

2024 WNBA season

Teams|

| East|

* Atlanta Dream
* Chicago Sky
* Connecticut Sun
* Indiana Fever
* New York Liberty
* Washington Mystics

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West|

* Dallas Wings
* Golden State Valkyries
* Las Vegas Aces
* Los Angeles Sparks
* Minnesota Lynx
* Phoenix Mercury
* Seattle Storm

Future teams|

* Toronto
* Portland

Annual events|

* Seasons
* Draft
* All-Star Game
* Commissioner's Cup
* Playoffs
* List of series
* Finals

Statistics|

* Records
* All-time win–loss
* Regular season
* Playoffs
* Career:
* Scoring
* Rebounding
* Assists
* Steals
* Blocks
* Turnovers
* Free throws
* Free throw percentage
* 3-point scoring
* Season:
* Scoring
* Rebounding
* Assists
* Steals
* Blocks
* Turnovers

Other|

* Arenas
* Attendance
* Awards
* Coaches
* Defunct teams
* Expansion draft history
* LiveAccess
* MVP
* NBA
* Media (ABC, ESPN, Current broadcasters, All-Star Game broadcasters, Finals broadcasters)
* Players (Current rosters, Foreign players)
* Rookie of the Year
* Teams (All-Decade Team, Top 15 Team, Top 20 Team, Top 25 Team)
* WNBA Players Association

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