Aces forward A'ja Wilson earns WNBA MVP honours for 2nd time

A'ja Wilson earned WNBA MVP honours for the second time in her young career Wednesday.

The 26-year-old Las Vegas Aces forward received 31 of 56 first-place votes from a media panel. Seattle forward Breanna Stewart was second, garnering 23 first-place votes and finishing 32 points behind Wilson, who had 478 points.

Wilson also won the award in 2020 and is the seventh player to win it more than once.

She averaged 19.5 points and 9.4 rebounds this season while shooting 50 per cent from the field and had 17 double-doubles. She led the league in blocks per game with 1.9.

The award was announced one day after Wilson helped the Aces reach the WNBA Finals by knocking out Stewart and the Storm. Wilson also earned Defensive Player of the Year honours this year. She's the fifth player to win both awards in the same season; the last to do it was Lauren Jackson in 2007.

DPOY and NOW 2x MVP ‼️<a href="https://twitter.com/_ajawilson22?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@_ajawilson22</a> is your 2022 <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WNBA?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WNBA</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/Kia?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Kia</a> Most Valuable Player