Is A'ja Wilson's MVP season the WNBA's greatest ever? - ESPN

The seeds for A'ja Wilson's dynamic 2024 WNBA season were planted before last season was even over. In a tight three-player race for MVP a year ago, the Las Vegas Aces star finished third — and was unhappy about it.

It was nothing against the winner, the New York Liberty's Breanna Stewart, or the runner-up, the Connecticut Sun's Alyssa Thomas, who got the most first-place votes. Wilson admires both Stewart and Thomas, who were her U.S. Olympic gold medal teammates this summer.

But after having an even better 2023 season than in 2022 — when Wilson won her second MVP — not getting the honor last year bothered her.

Wilson turned the disappointment into something constructive. First, she was the 2023 WNBA Finals MVP, leading the Aces to their second consecutive championship. Then she spent the offseason preparing to be the best she has ever been.

Wilson has done that in a record-breaking 2024 that earned her unanimous MVP honors.

Where will Wilson's 2024 stand among all MVP seasons in WNBA history? We've ranked the top 10 since the league launched in 1997 — and it comes with an obvious truth: All MVP seasons are great, and the competition is always intense.

Of the 27 previous MVPs, 11 have won WNBA titles in their MVP seasons. Two others made the WNBA Finals but didn't win the championship. Only one player — the Seattle Storm's Lauren Jackson in 2003 — was named MVP in a season in which her team didn't make the playoffs.

It's difficult to not weigh team results — especially championships — into any ranking of MVPs. Winning a title makes an MVP season even better. But whether or not Wilson helps lead the Aces to a three-peat this year, her 2024 season has been the most dominant individually that we have seen in the WNBA.

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