The Women's National Basketball Association's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season -- 1997, to the top defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters 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.
Tamika Catchings has won the defensive player of the year award more times than any other player with the record of 5.
Winners
| Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA | |
| Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Denotes player whose team won championship that year | |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has won |
| Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
| Season | Player | Position | Nationality | Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Teresa Weatherspoon | Guard |  United States
|
New York Liberty |
| 1998 | Teresa Weatherspoon (2) | Guard | United States
|
New York Liberty (2) |
| 1999 | Yolanda Griffith | Center | United States
|
Sacramento Monarchs |
| 2000 | Sheryl Swoopes | Guard / Forward | United States
|
Houston Comets |
| 2001 | Debbie Black | Guard | United States
|
Miami Sol |
| 2002 | Sheryl Swoopes (2) | Guard / Forward | United States
|
Houston Comets (2) |
| 2003 | Sheryl Swoopes (3) | Guard / Forward | United States
|
Houston Comets (3) |
| 2004 | Lisa Leslie | Center | United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks |
| 2005 | Tamika Catchings | Forward | United States
|
Indiana Fever |
| 2006 | Tamika Catchings (2) | Forward | United States
|
Indiana Fever (2) |
| 2007 | Lauren Jackson | Forward / Center |  Australia
|
Seattle Storm |
| 2008 | Lisa Leslie (2) | Center | United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks (2) |
| 2009 | Tamika Catchings (3) | Forward | United States
|
Indiana Fever (3) |
| 2010 | Tamika Catchings (4) | Forward | United States
|
Indiana Fever (4) |
| 2011 | Sylvia Fowles | Center | United States
|
Chicago Sky |
| 2012 | Tamika Catchings (5) | Forward | United States
|
Indiana Fever (5) |
| 2013 | Sylvia Fowles (2) | Center | United States
|
Chicago Sky (2) |
| 2014 | Brittney Griner | Center | United States
|
Phoenix Mercury |
| 2015 | Brittney Griner (2) | Center | United States
|
Phoenix Mercury (2) |
| 2016 | Sylvia Fowles (3) | Center | United States
|
Minnesota Lynx |
| 2017 | Alana Beard | Guard / Forward | United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks (3) |
| 2018 | Alana Beard (2) | Guard / Forward | United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks (4) |
| 2019 | Natasha Howard | Guard / Forward | United States
|
Seattle Storm (2) |
| 2020 | Candace Parker | Forward / Center | United States
|
Los Angeles Sparks (5) |
| 2021 | Sylvia Fowles (4) | Center | United States
|
Minnesota Lynx (2) |
| 2022 | A'ja Wilson | Forward | United States
|
Las Vegas Aces |
| 2023 | A'ja Wilson (2) | Forward | United States
|
Las Vegas Aces (2) |
| 2024 | Napheesa Collier | Forward | United States
|
Minnesota Lynx (3) |
Multi-time winners
| Awards | Player | Team(s) | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 |
| 4 | Sylvia Fowles | Chicago Sky / Minnesota Lynx | 2011, 2013, 2016, 2021 |
| 3 | Sheryl Swoopes | Houston Comets | 2000, 2002, 2003 |
| 2 | Teresa Weatherspoon | New York Liberty | 1997, 1998 |
| Lisa Leslie | Los Angeles Sparks | 2004, 2008 | |
| Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury | 2014, 2015 | |
| Alana Beard | Los Angeles Sparks | 2017, 2018 | |
| A'ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces | 2022, 2023 |
See also
References
- "Saying Goodbye to WNBA Great Tamika Catchings". Archived from the original on October 2, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- "WNBA.com: Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie Named 2008 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". www.wnba.com. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- ^ "Sylvia Fowles wins WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". September 30, 2016. Retrieved October 1, 2016.
- "Los Angeles' Alana Beard Named 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 12, 2017. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
- "Sparks' Alana Beard Named 2018 Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. August 30, 2018. Archived from the original on August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
- "Seattle's Natasha Howard Named 2019 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. September 11, 2019. Archived from the original on October 1, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
- "Candace Parker Named 2020 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Archived from the original on October 2, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.
- "Sylvia Fowles Named 2021 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". Archived from the original on September 26, 2021. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
- "Las Vegas Aces' A'ja Wilson Named 2022 Kia WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. August 30, 2022. Archived from the original on August 30, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
- "Aces star A'ja Wilson wins second straight DPOY award". ESPN. September 22, 2023. Archived from the original on September 22, 2023. Retrieved September 22, 2023.
- "Napheesa Collier Named 2024 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". Minnesota Lynx. September 29, 2024. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
- "WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". Retrieved January 19, 2009.
| WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award Winners | |
|---|---|
|
| Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 WNBA season | |||||||
| Teams |
| ||||||
| Annual events | |||||||
| Statistics | |||||||
| Other |
| ||||||