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WNBA Most Improved Player

Award

Award

The Women's National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 2000 WNBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters 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.

In 2019, Leilani Mitchell became the first player in history to win the award twice, after winning the award in 2010. In 2004, there was a tie -- both Kelly Miller and Wendy Palmer received the award. Nicole Powell, Natasha Howard, and Jackie Young are the only players to win the Most Improved award and a WNBA title in the same year.

Winners

Team (X)Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
SeasonPlayerYrsPositionNationalityTeamFirst-Place VotesRef.
2000Tari Phillips2Forward / CenterNew York Liberty19 out of 62
2001Janeth Arcain5GuardHouston Comets25 out of 60
2002Coco Miller2Washington Mystics14 out of 60
2003Michelle SnowForward / CenterHouston Comets (2)22 out of 53
2004Kelly Miller4GuardIndiana Fever9 out of 48 (tie)
Wendy Palmer8ForwardConnecticut Sun
2005Nicole Powell2Sacramento Monarchs20 out of 49
2006Erin Buescher5Sacramento Monarchs (2)28 out of 56
2007Janel McCarville3CenterNew York Liberty (2)33 out of 51
2008Ebony Hoffman5ForwardIndiana Fever (2)31 out of 44
2009Crystal Langhorne2Washington Mystics (2)19 out of 40
2010Leilani Mitchell3GuardNew York Liberty (3)29 out of 39
2011Kia VaughnCenterNew York Liberty (4)15 out of 40
2012Kristi Toliver4GuardLos Angeles Sparks24 out of 41
2013Shavonte Zellous5Indiana Fever (3)30 out of 39
2014Skylar Diggins-Smith2Tulsa Shock29 out of 38
2015Kelsey Bone3CenterConnecticut Sun (2)14 out of 39
2016Elizabeth Williams2Forward / CenterAtlanta Dream14 out of 39
2017Jonquel JonesConnecticut Sun (3)32 out of 40
2018Natasha Howard5ForwardSeattle Storm29 out of 39
2019Leilani Mitchell (2)11GuardPhoenix Mercury27 out of 43
2020Betnijah Laney5Forward / GuardAtlanta Dream (2)25 out of 47
2021Brionna JonesForwardConnecticut Sun (4)38 out of 49
2022Jackie Young4GuardLas Vegas Aces32 out of 56
2023Satou SaballyForwardDallas Wings (2)37 out of 60
2024DiJonai CarringtonGuardConnecticut Sun (5)28 out of 67
2025Veronica BurtonGuardGolden State Valkyries68 out of 72

;Notes

References

References

  1. "2000 WNBA Season Awards".
  2. (August 18, 2001). "Houston's Arcain is 2001 Most Improved Player".
  3. "2002 WNBA Season Awards".
  4. "2003 WNBA Season Awards".
  5. (September 27, 2004). "Connecticut's Wendy Palmer and Indiana's Kelly Miller Named Co-Recipients of 2004 WNBA Most Improved Player Award".
  6. (September 2, 2005). "Sacramento's Nicole Powell Named 2005 WNBA Most Improved Player".
  7. (August 19, 2006). "Buescher wins most improved player award". [[ESPN]].
  8. (August 24, 2007). "New York's Janel McCarville Named 2007 WNBA Most Improved Player".
  9. (September 19, 2008). "Hoffman easily wins WNBA's most improved award". Associated Press.
  10. (September 17, 2009). "Langhorne receives most improved". [[ESPN]].
  11. FIBA World Championship for Women. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140418234640/http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/14/wcw/news/p/nid/70964/article.html ''Joyce thrilled to get Mitchell on board''].Retrieved 2014-04-18
  12. (August 26, 2010). "Leilani Mitchell Named 2010 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year Presented By Kia Motors".
  13. (September 17, 2011). "Kia Vaughn wins most improved award". Associated Press.
  14. Washington Post. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/othersports/kristi-tolivers-career-speaks-volumes-about-life-as-a-womens-basketball-player/2014/08/01/87d354c6-197b-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747_story.html].Retrieved 2019-11-24
  15. (September 27, 2012). "Sparks' Toliver named WNBA Most Improved Player". ABC 10.
  16. Indianapolis Star. [https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2015/05/20/shavonte-zellous-miss-time-fever-play-croatia/27675317/].Retrieved 2019-11-24
  17. (September 22, 2013). "Shavonte Zellous Named 2013 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year".
  18. (August 27, 2014). "Skylar Diggins Named 2014 WNBA Most Improved Player".
  19. (October 1, 2015). "Kelsey Bone Named 2015 WNBA Most Improved Player Presented By Samsung".
  20. USA Basketball. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150727011455/http://www.usab.com/history/u16-womens/first-fiba-americas-u16-championship-for-women-2009.aspx].Retrieved 2019-11-24
  21. (September 21, 2016). "Elizabeth Williams named WNBA Most Improved Player". [[ESPN]].
  22. Nassau Guardian. [https://thenassauguardian.com/2019/02/04/jonquel-jones-to-compete-for-bosnia/] {{Webarchive. link. (2019-02-16 .Retrieved 2019-11-24)
  23. (September 10, 2017). "Connecticut's Jonquel Jones Named 2017 WNBA Most Improved Player".
  24. (August 26, 2018). "Storm’s Natasha Howard named 2018 WNBA Most Improved Player".
  25. (September 18, 2019). "Leilani Mitchell Named 2019 WNBA Most Improved Player". WNBA.
  26. Voepel, Michael. (September 24, 2020). "Dream's Betnijah Laney named WNBA's Most Improved Player". [[ESPN]].
  27. (September 28, 2021). "Connecticut Sun Brionna Jones Named 2021 KIA Most Improved Player". WNBA.
  28. (August 29, 2022). "Jackie Young Named 2022 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player". WNBA.
  29. Ayala, Erica. (August 27, 2020). "Satou Sabally Is a Unicorn". Sports Illustrated.
  30. (September 21, 2023). "Dallas Wings' Satou Sabally Named 2023 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player". WNBA.
  31. (September 25, 2024). "Sun guard DiJonai Carrington wins WNBA Most Improved Player award". Associated Press.
  32. Andrews, Kendra. (September 15, 2025). "Valkyries' Veronica Burton wins WNBA's Most Improved award". Associated Press.
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