WNBA Defensive Player of the Year 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]

| 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

[edit]

* List of sports awards honoring women

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Saying Goodbye to WNBA Great Tamika Catchings". Retrieved 2016-10-01.
2. ^ "WNBA.com: Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie Named 2008 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
3. ^ a b c "Sylvia Fowles wins WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
4. ^ "Los Angeles' Alana Beard Named 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 12, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
5. ^ "Sparks' Alana Beard Named 2018 Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. 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. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
7. ^ "Candace Parker Named 2020 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
8. ^ "Sylvia Fowles Named 2021 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". 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. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
10. ^ "Aces star A'ja Wilson wins second straight DPOY award". ESPN. September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
11. ^ "Napheesa Collier Named 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year work=[[Minnesota Lynx]]". September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024. `{{cite web}}`: Missing pipe in: `|title=` (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help)

* "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

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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
* Las Vegas Aces
* Los Angeles Sparks
* Minnesota Lynx
* Phoenix Mercury
* Seattle Storm

Future teams|

* Golden State Valkyries
* 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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