WNBA's top 25 players of 2023: Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson and more - ESPN

A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart have combined to win three of the past five WNBA MVP awards. So it's no surprise they open at Nos. 1 and 2 in ESPN's 2023 preseason ranking of the top 25 players in the WNBA.

Last season, the Las Vegas Aces' Wilson and Stewart — who spent her first six seasons with the Seattle Storm and now is with the New York Liberty — got all but two first-place votes in the MVP race, with Wilson winning the final points tally 478-446.

They are now just a point apart in our preseason voting, with Stewart, the 2018 MVP, getting two first-place votes and Wilson, who also was league MVP in 2020, the other. It's a toss-up between these two forwards, who also anchor the squads regarded as superteams this WNBA season.

Wilson, 26, and Stewart, 28, are among four 20-somethings in our top 10. The other six are age 30 or over, showing that the veterans are still more than holding their own in the WNBA. Brittney Griner was the most challenging player to rank. The Phoenix Mercury center missed all of last season as she was detained in Russia. Griner returned to the United States in December and went back to work quickly to get in shape. While we don't know what level she can reach in 2023, she got the benefit of the doubt based on her career.

Many players received votes and came close to making the list, which we'll revisit each month during the regular season. Players might move up, down, into or out of the rankings. For now, here are the top 25, as voted on by ESPN's Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and M.A. Voepel.

Forward | 6-foot-4 2022 stats: 21.8 PPG, 7.6 RPG, 2.9 APG

Of New York's collection of superstars, Stewart shines the brightest. The only debate was between her and Wilson for the top spot, with a split