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WNBA Rookie of the Year
Women's National Basketball Association award
Women's National Basketball Association award
The Women's National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 1998 WNBA season, to the top rookie 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(s) with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
The 2003 award winner Cheryl Ford and 2011 award winner Maya Moore are the only players to win both the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and a WNBA championship in the same season.
The 2008 award winner was Candace Parker who became the first player to win the award after garnering all possible votes and also the first player to win the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award in the same season. In the NBA, only Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld have won the Most Valuable Player Award and Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.
The 2020 award winner, Crystal Dangerfield, is the first who was not chosen in the first round of the draft; she was chosen in the second round in 2020 as the 16th overall pick.
As of 2019, eight Rookie of the Year recipients have gone on to become a member of a WNBA championship team.
Winners
| ^ | * |
|---|---|
| Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA | |
| Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as player | |
| Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| † | Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration |
| § | 1st time eligible for Hall of Fame in 2025-- |
| Player | |
| (in bold text) | Denotes unanimous winners |
| Season | Player | Position | Nationality | Team | School | Pick | Year | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Tracy Reid | Forward | Charlotte Sting | UNC (Sr.) | 7 | 1998 | ||||||||
| 1999 | Chamique Holdsclaw | Washington Mystics | Tennessee (Sr.) | 1 | 1999 | |||||||||
| 2000 | Betty Lennox | Guard | Minnesota Lynx | Louisiana Tech (Sr.) | 6 | 2000 | ||||||||
| 2001 | Jackie Stiles | Portland Fire | Missouri State (Sr.) | 4 | 2001 | |||||||||
| 2002 | Tamika Catchings* | Forward | Indiana Fever | Tennessee (Sr.) | 3 | 2001 | ||||||||
| 2003 | Cheryl Ford | Detroit Shock | Louisiana Tech (Sr.) | 3 | 2003 | |||||||||
| 2004 | Diana Taurasi† | Guard | Phoenix Mercury | UConn (Sr.) | 1 | 2004 | ||||||||
| 2005 | Temeka Johnson | Washington Mystics (2) | LSU (Sr.) | 6 | 2005 | |||||||||
| 2006 | Seimone Augustus* | Guard/Forward | Minnesota Lynx (2) | LSU (Sr.) | 1 | 2006 | ||||||||
| 2007 | Armintie Price | Guard | Chicago Sky | Ole Miss (Sr.) | 3 | 2007 | ||||||||
| 2008 | Candace Parker† | Forward/Center | Los Angeles Sparks | Tennessee (Jr.) | 1 | 2008 | ||||||||
| 2009 | Angel McCoughtry† | Forward | Atlanta Dream | Louisville (Sr.) | 1 | 2009 | ||||||||
| 2010 | Tina Charles^ | Center | Connecticut Sun | UConn (Sr.) | 1 | 2010 | ||||||||
| 2011 | Maya Moore* | Forward | Minnesota Lynx (3) | UConn (Sr.) | 1 | 2011 | ||||||||
| 2012 | Nneka Ogwumike^ | Los Angeles Sparks (2) | Stanford (Sr.) | 1 | 2012 | |||||||||
| 2013 | Elena Delle Donne† | Guard/Forward | Chicago Sky (2) | Delaware (Sr.) | 2 | 2013 | ||||||||
| 2014 | Chiney Ogwumike† | Forward | Connecticut Sun (2) | Stanford (Sr.) | 1 | 2014 | ||||||||
| 2015 | Jewell Loyd^ | Guard | Seattle Storm | Notre Dame (Jr.) | 1 | 2015 | ||||||||
| 2016 | Breanna Stewart^ | Forward/Center | Seattle Storm (2) | UConn (Sr.) | 1 | 2016 | ||||||||
| 2017 | Allisha Gray^ | Guard | Dallas Wings (2) | South Carolina (Jr.) | 4 | 2017 | ||||||||
| 2018 | A'ja Wilson^ | Forward | Las Vegas Aces | South Carolina (Sr.) | 1 | 2018 | ||||||||
| 2019 | Napheesa Collier^ | Minnesota Lynx (4) | UConn (Sr.) | 6 | 2019 | |||||||||
| 2020 | Crystal Dangerfield^ | Guard | Minnesota Lynx (5) | UConn (Sr.) | 16 | 2020 | ||||||||
| 2021 | Michaela Onyenwere^ | Forward | New York Liberty | UCLA (Sr.) | 6 | 2021 | ||||||||
| 2022 | Rhyne Howard^ | Guard | Atlanta Dream (2) | Kentucky (Sr.) | 1 | 2022 | ||||||||
| 2023 | Aliyah Boston^ | Forward/Center | Indiana Fever (2) | South Carolina (Sr.) | 1 | 2023 | ||||||||
| 2024 | Caitlin Clark^ | Guard | Indiana Fever (3) | Iowa (Sr.) | 1 | 2024 | ||||||||
| 2025 | Paige Bueckers^ | Dallas Wings (3) | UConn (Sr.) | 1 | 2025 | {{cite news | last=Voepel | first=Michael | author-link=Michael Voepel | title=Paige Bueckers nearly unanimous winner of WNBA Rookie of the Year | work=ESPN | date=September 16, 2025 | access-date=September 16, 2025}} |
Teams
- Top row: (left to right) Tamika Catchings, Diana Taurasi, Seimone Augustus, and Candace Parker
- Middle row: (left to right) Angel McCoughtry, Maya Moore, Nneka Ogwumike, and Elena Delle Donne
- Bottom row: (left to right) Breanna Stewart, A'ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier, and Caitlin Clark
| Awards | Teams | Years |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | Minnesota Lynx | , , , , |
| 3 | Indiana Fever | , , |
| Dallas Wings / Tulsa Shock / Detroit Shock | (as Detroit) | |
| , (as Dallas) | ||
| 2 | Washington Mystics | , |
| Chicago Sky | , | |
| Los Angeles Sparks | , | |
| Atlanta Dream | , | |
| Connecticut Sun / Orlando Miracle | , (as Connecticut) | |
| Seattle Storm | , | |
| 1 | Charlotte Sting | |
| Portland Fire | ||
| Phoenix Mercury | ||
| Las Vegas Aces / San Antonio Stars / | ||
| San Antonio Silver Stars / Utah Starzz | (as Las Vegas) | |
| New York Liberty | ||
| 0 | Cleveland Rockers | N/A |
| Houston Comets | ||
| Miami Sol | ||
| Sacramento Monarchs |
Notes
References
References
- "2024 Hall of Fame Candidates".
- (March 1, 2005). "Forward was Rookie of the Year in 1998". [[ESPN]].
- (August 28, 1999). "Holdsclaw Wins Rookie Award". CBS News.
- (August 17, 2000). "Lennox dominates Rookie voting". Associated Press.
- (August 16, 2001). "Stiles Named 2001 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- (August 16, 2002). "Indiana's Catchings Wins 2002 Rookie of the Year".
- (August 31, 2003). "Detroit's Ford Named Rookie of the Year".
- (September 27, 2004). "Phoenix's Diana Taurasi Named 2004 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- (September 14, 2005). "Washington's Temeka Johnson Named 2005 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- "Seimone Augustus Named 2006 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- (September 8, 2007). "Chicago's Armintie Price Named 2007 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- (October 3, 2008). "Los Angeles Sparks' Candace Parker Named Hanns-G 'Go Beyond' Rookie of the Year".
- (October 2, 2009). "McCoughtry is WNBA's top rookie". Associated Press.
- (August 30, 2010). "The Connecticut Sun's Tina Charles Named 2010 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- (September 16, 2011). "Minnesota Lynx Forward Maya Moore Named 2011 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- (October 8, 2012). "Los Angeles Sparks Forward Nneka Ogwumike Named 2012 WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- "Nneka Ogwumike, Glory Johnson Headline 2012 All-Rookie Team". WNBA.
- (September 20, 2013). "Sky's Delle Donne named WNBA's Rookie of Year". [[The San Diego Union-Tribune]].
- (August 28, 2014). "Chiney Ogwumike is rookie of year". Associated Press.
- (September 24, 2015). "Seattle Storm's Jewell Loyd named WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- (September 29, 2016). "Breanna Stewart Named 2016 WNBA Rookie of the Year Presented By Samsung".
- (September 19, 2017). "Dallas' Allisha Gray Named 2017 WNBA Rookie Of The Year".
- Voepel, Michael. (September 9, 2018). "A'ja Wilson unanimous choice for WNBA Rookie of the Year". [[ESPN]].
- Voepel, Michael. (September 16, 2019). "Lynx's Collier named WNBA Rookie of the Year". [[ESPN]].
- (September 17, 2020). "Crystal Dangerfield Named WNBA Rookie Of The Year".
- (October 5, 2021). "New York Liberty's Michaela Onyenwere Named 2021 Kia WNBA Rookie Of The Year". WNBA.
- (August 25, 2022). "Atlanta Dream's Rhyne Howard Named 2022 Kia Rookie of the Year". WNBA.
- (October 2, 2023). "Indiana Fever's Aliyah Boston Named 2023 Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year".
- Voepel, Michael. (October 3, 2024). "Caitlin Clark wins WNBA Rookie of the Year honors". [[ESPN]].
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