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Home Dallas Wings

The Next’s 2025 WNBA Awards: Napheesa Collier among winners

by John Maxner
16 September 2025
in Dallas Wings
0
The Next’s 2025 WNBA Awards: Napheesa Collier among winners

So without further ado …

MVP

In accordance with how the W scores ballots, players received 10 points for a first-place vote, seven for a second-place vote, five for a third-place vote, three for a fourth-place vote, and one for a fifth-place vote.

PlayerPointsFirst-place votesSecond-place votesThird-place votesFourth-place votesFifth-place votes
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota12885210
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas11448310
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix10243720
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta48003103
Nneka Ogwumike, big, Seattle900111
Aliyah Boston, center, Indiana500014
Kelsey Mitchell, combo guard, Indiana500005
Kelsey Plum, point guard, Los Angeles100001
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas100001
Veronica Burton, point guard, Golden State100001

With an 80.0% vote share (the percentage of the maximum possible points a player received), The Next’s 2025 WNBA MVP is Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier. She received half of the total first-place votes, while second place A’ja Wilson and third place Alyssa Thomas, who split the remaining top selections. Allisha Gray was the only other player to be listed on a majority of voters’ ballots.

Collier becomes just the second MVP, besides initial allocation players, to be drafted outside the lottery. She joins Jonquel Jones, who coincidentally was also a sixth-overall pick. Should she win the WNBA honors, it would cap off a stretch of her career in which she has received increasingly prestigious award recognition each year, from fourth in MVP voting and Second Team All-Defense in 2023 to MVP runner-up and Defensive Player of the Year last year to winning MVP in 2025.

Defensive Player of the Year

We use the NBA’s method of scoring ballots, where players receive five points for a first-place vote, three for a second-place vote, and one for a third-place vote. (The WNBA only asks for one name per ballot in its official voting, which can skew how we think of runners-up.)

PlayerPointsFirst-place votesSecond-place votesThird-place votes
Gabby Williams, wing, Seattle42633
Alanna Smith, center, Minnesota33522
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota29261
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas25317
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix11032
Breanna Stewart, big wing, New York3010
Ezi Magbegor, center, Seattle1001
Horizontal bar graph showing Gabby Williams at 52.5%, Alanna Smith at 41.2%, Napheesa Collier at 36.2%, <a rel=

With a 52.5% vote share, The IX Basketball’s 2025 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year is Seattle’s Gabby Williams. She received six of 16 possible first-place votes, with Alanna Smith, Collier and Wilson all finishing closely behind.

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Williams has long been recognized among the W’s most elite defenders, receiving DPOY votes as a rookie and Second Team All-Defense honors in her lone other full season as a starter in the W. But a combination of moving to the bench while still on her rookie contract and spending recent summers split between France and Seattle has kept her from receiving official honors.

This year, Williams recorded career-highs in steals and blocks on both per-game and rate bases while playing by far her most minutes.

Smith and Collier split votes as the leaders of the league’s best defense, while Wilson was crucial to keeping an Aces defense competitive despite lacking plus defenders elsewhere.

All-WNBA

In accordance with how the W scores ballots, players received five points for a First Team vote and three points for a Second Team vote. With the WNBA’s All-W teams being positionless, voters’ First Teams were identical to their MVP ballots. As such, our top four MVP vote-getters also made our First Team All-WNBA.

First Team

PlayerPointsFirst Team votesSecond Team votes
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas80160
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix80160
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota80160
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta80160
Kelsey Mitchell, combo guard, Indiana4958

Second Team

PlayerPointsFirst Team votesSecond Team vote
Nneka Ogwumike, big, Seattle4239
Aliyah Boston, center, Indiana3754
Sabrina Ionescu, combo guard, New York36012
Kelsey Plum, point guard, Los Angeles3219
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas3219
Also receiving points: Veronica Burton (20), Jackie Young (15), Breanna Stewart (12), Brionna Jones (9), Rhyne Howard (9), Dearica Hamby (9)

Gray, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and Paige Bueckers would earn the first All-W honors of their careers, while Nneka Ogwumike’s eighth-such selection would move her into a tie for the sixth-most all time, per Sports Reference.

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All-Defense

In accordance with how the W scores ballots, players received two points for a First Team vote and one point for a Second Team vote. With the WNBA’s All-Defense teams being positionless, voters’ first three names were identical to their Defensive Player of the Year ballots. As such, our top DPOY vote-getters also made our First Team All-Defense.

First Team

PlayerPointsFirst Team votesSecond Team votes
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas32160
Gabby Williams, wing, Seattle30142
Alanna Smith, center, Minnesota29133
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota29133
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix28132

Second Team

PlayerPointsFirst Team votesSecond
Ezi Magbegor, center, Seattle16310
Veronica Burton, point guard, Golden State11011
Breanna Stewart, big wing, New York925
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta707
Leïla Lacan, combo guard, Connecticut513
Brionna Jones, center, Atlanta505
Also receiving points: Shakira Austin (4), Nneka Ogwumike (4), Saniya Rivers (4), Brittney Sykes (4)

Veronica Burton, Gray and Leïla Lacan would earn the first All-Defense honors of their careers, while Thomas and Breanna Stewart’s seventh selections would move them both into a tie for fourth-most all-time, per Sports Reference.

Sixth Player of the Year

We continue to use the NBA’s method of scoring ballots, where players receive five points for a first-place vote, three for a second-place vote, and one for a third-place vote, a more accurate reflection of how runners-up are viewed.

PlayerPointsFirst-place votesSecond-place votesThird-place votes
Naz Hillmon, big, Atlanta751500
Natisha Hiedeman, combo guard, Minnesota34192
Jessica Shepard, big, Minnesota15043
Dominique Malonga, center, Seattle7014
DeWanna Bonner, wing, Phoenix5012
Kennedy Burke, combo forward, New York5012
Sami Whitcomb, off-ball guard, Phoenix2002
Sophie Cunningham, combo forward, Indiana1001
Horizontal bar graph showing Naz Hillmon at 93.8%, Natisha Hiedeman at 42.5%, Jessica Shepard at 18.8%, and Dominique Malonga at 8.8%.

With an overwhelming 93.8% vote share, The Next’s 2025 WNBA Sixth Player of the Year is Atlanta’s Naz Hillmon. She received all but one first-place vote, with Natisha Hiedeman securing the other. That lone voter left Hillmon off their ballot entirely on account of Hillmon securing a starting role midway through the season, going against the spirit of the award in that voter’s view.

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Hillmon’s vote share would be the highest since Brionna Jones won in 2022, and would be the third-highest in the award’s 19-year history, per Across The Timeline.

Most Improved Player

Same disclaimer about players receiving five points for a first-place vote, three for a second-place vote, and one for a third-place vote, providing a more accurate reflection of how runners-up were viewed by the voting bloc.

PlayerPointsFirst-place votesSecond-place votesThird-place votes
Veronica Burton, point guard, Golden State781510
Azurá Stevens, big, Los Angeles28084
Naz Hillmon, big, Atlanta23153
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta4011
Maya Caldwell, off-ball guard, Atlanta4011
Erica Wheeler, point guard, Seattle1001
Jessica Shepard, big, Minnesota1001
Lexie Hull, off-ball guard, Indiana1001
Natisha Hiedeman, combo guard, Minnesota1001
Olivia Neslon-Ododa, center, Connecticut1001
Rickea Jackson, wing, Los Angeles1001
Sug Sutton, combo guard, Washington1001
Horizontal bar graph showing Veronica Burton at 97.5%, Azurá Stevens at 35%, NAz Hillmon at 28.7%, Maya Caldwell at 5%, and Allisha Gray at 5%.

With a commanding 97.5% vote share, The Next’s 2025 Most Improved Player is Golden State’s Veronica Burton. She received all but one first-place vote plus a second-place vote, which would be by far the highest vote share for any MIP in WNBA history, per Across The Timeline.2 The point guard went from the fringes of the Sun’s 2024 rotation to both All-W and All-Defense contention in 2025, one of the biggest year-to-year changes in league history.

Rookie of the Year

Boilerplate explanation of five points for a first-place vote, three for a second-place vote, and one for a third-place vote, providing a more accurate reflection of downballot consideration.

PlayerPointsFirst-place votesSecond-place votesThird-place votes
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas761420
Sonia Citron, wing, Washington502131
Kiki Iriafen, big, Washington14011
Dominique Malonga, center, Seattle2002
Leïla Lacan, combo guard, Connecticut1001
Monique Akoa Makani, point guard, Phoenix1001
Horizontal bar graph showing Paige Bueckers at 95%, Sonia Citron at 62.5%, and Kiki Iriafen at 17.5%.

With a strong-but-not-unanimous 95% vote share, The Next’s 2025 WNBA Rookie of the Year is Dallas’ Paige Bueckers. She received all but two first-place votes and both of the second-place votes on both of those ballots as well, with Washington’s Sonia Citron nabbing the pair of stray votes. Bueckers finished fifth in points per game, seventh in steals, and ninth in assists leaguewide.

A near-unanimous result for Rookie of the Year has been fairly common in W history: Angel Reese picking off one vote from Caitlin Clark last year, Aari McDonald and DiDi Richards from Michaela Onyenwere in 2021, Chennedy Carter and Satou Sabally from Crystal Dangerfield in 2020, Moriah Jefferson from Stewart in 2016, Glory Johnson and Samantha Prahalis from Ogwumike in 2012, Danielle Adams from Maya Moore in 2011 — all the way back to three players not named Chamique Holdsclaw each getting a vote in 1998, per Across The Timeline.

All-Rookie

PlayerVotes
Kiki Iriafen, big, Washington16
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas16
Sonia Citron, wing, Washington16
Saniya Rivers, wing, Connecticut7
Dominique Malonga, center, Seattle6
Janelle Salaün, combo forward, Golden State6
Leïla Lacan, combo guard, Connecticut6
Also receiving multiple votes: Monique Akoa Makani (5)

There have been ties in WNBA voting before. Among All-Rookie teams: In 2015, Natalie Achonwa and Ana Dabović tied, making for a six-person All-Rookie team; in 2008, Matee Ajavon and Amber Holt tied for the last spot as well. It has also happened twice for All-WNBA voting (2000, 2014) and thrice for All-Defense (2009-10, 2013), as well as in our All-Defense voting above. There has never been a three-way tie for the last spot on an awards team, though. 2025 was simply an excellent year for first-year players.

Coach of the Year

As we move into awards for team personnel, guess what: we still did ballots with three names like in NBA voting, worth five points, three points and one point each. You get the picture by now.

CoachPointsFirst-place votesSecond-place votesThird-place votes
Natalie Nakase, Golden State691230
Karl Smesko, Atlanta473102
Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota18127
Nate Tibbetts, Phoenix5012
Becky Hammon, Las Vegas5005
Horizontal bar graph showing Natalie Nakase at 86.2%, Karl Smesko at 58.8%, Cheryl Reeve at 22.5%, Becky Hammon at 6.2%, and Nate Tibbetts at 6.2%.
Note that the table is sorted by higher-order votes as tiebreaker, while the chart is alphabetical

With an 86.2% vote share, The Next’s 2025 WNBA Coach of the Year is Golden State’s Natalie Nakase. She received three-quarters of the available first-place votes, with Atlanta’s Karl Smesko claiming three votes and Minnesota’s Cheryl Reeve receiving one. Nakase led the Valkyries to the league’s first-ever postseason appearance by a first-year expansion franchise, defying projections of high lottery contention. The other coaches listed above all led their teams to first-round home-court advantage while exceeding either preseason or midseason expectations.

Executive of the Year

Say it with me now: Five points for a first-place vote, three for a second-place vote, and one for a third-place vote. Executive of the Year is a unique award both because it is voted on by WNBA general managers and not by the media and because official ballots include three names and not just one.

ExecutivePointsFirst-place votesSecond-place votesThird-place votes
Nick U’Ren, Phoenix27552
Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State23451
Dan Padover, Atlanta14224
Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota10212
Jamla Wideman, Washington2002
Curt Miller, Dallas1001
Morgan Tuck, Connecticut1001
Horizontal bar graph showing Nick U'Ren at 38.6%, Ohemaa Nyanin at 32.9%, Dan Padover at 20%, and Cheryl Reeve at 14.3%.

With a 38.6% vote share, The IX Basketball’s 2025 WNBA Executive of the Year is Phoenix’s Nick U’Ren. He took five of the 13 first-place votes from voters who participated in this award, while Golden State’s Ohemaa Nyanin took four top votes, and both Atlanta’s Dan Padover and Reeve nabbed two.

After finishing fourth in Executive of the Year voting last year, U’Ren completely overhauled the Mercury roster through sign-and-trades for Alyssa Thomas and Satou Sabally and by signing EuroLeague players to rookie-scale contracts. The result was a highly effective team of stars and role players that not only won more this year than expected, but maintains team control over most of its role players for a few more seasons.


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