The Next’s 2025 WNBA Awards: Napheesa Collier, Paige Bueckers 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.

Player	Points	First-place votes	Second-place votes	Third-place votes	Fourth-place votes	Fifth-place votes
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota	128	8	5	2	1	0
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas	114	4	8	3	1	0
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix	102	4	3	7	2	0
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta	48	0	0	3	10	3
Nneka Ogwumike, big, Seattle	9	0	0	1	1	1
Aliyah Boston, center, Indiana	5	0	0	0	1	4
Kelsey Mitchell, combo guard, Indiana	5	0	0	0	0	5
Kelsey Plum, point guard, Los Angeles	1	0	0	0	0	1
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas	1	0	0	0	0	1
Veronica Burton, point guard, Golden State	1	0	0	0	0	1

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 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 Collier win the WNBA honors, it would cap 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 in 2024 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.)

Player	Points	First-place votes	Second-place votes	Third-place votes
Gabby Williams, wing, Seattle	42	6	3	3
Alanna Smith, center, Minnesota	33	5	2	2
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota	29	2	6	1
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas	25	3	1	7
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix	11	0	3	2
Breanna Stewart, big wing, New York	3	0	1	0
Ezi Magbegor, center, Seattle	1	0	0	1

With a 52.5% vote share, The Next’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.

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

Player	Points	First Team votes	Second Team votes
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas	80	16	0
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix	80	16	0
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota	80	16	0
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta	80	16	0
Kelsey Mitchell, combo guard, Indiana	49	5	8

Second team

Player	Points	First team votes	Second team vote
Nneka Ogwumike, big, Seattle	42	3	9
Aliyah Boston, center, Indiana	37	5	4
Sabrina Ionescu, combo guard, New York	36	0	12
Kelsey Plum, point guard, Los Angeles	32	1	9
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas	32	1	9
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.

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

Player	Points	First team votes	Second team votes
A’ja Wilson, big, Las Vegas	32	16	0
Gabby Williams, wing, Seattle	30	14	2
Alanna Smith, center, Minnesota	29	13	3
Napheesa Collier, big wing, Minnesota	29	13	3
Alyssa Thomas, point forward, Phoenix	28	13	2

Second team

Player	Points	First team votes	Second team votes
Ezi Magbegor, center, Seattle	16	3	10
Veronica Burton, point guard, Golden State	11	0	11
Breanna Stewart, big wing, New York	9	2	5
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta	7	0	7
Leïla Lacan, combo guard, Connecticut	5	1	3
Brionna Jones, center, Atlanta	5	0	5
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.

Player	Points	First-place votes	Second-place votes	Third-place votes
Naz Hillmon, big, Atlanta	75	15	0	0
Natisha Hiedeman, combo guard, Minnesota	34	1	9	2
Jessica Shepard, big, Minnesota	15	0	4	3
Dominique Malonga, center, Seattle	7	0	1	4
DeWanna Bonner, wing, Phoenix	5	0	1	2
Kennedy Burke, combo forward, New York	5	0	1	2
Sami Whitcomb, off-ball guard, Phoenix	2	0	0	2
Sophie Cunningham, combo forward, Indiana	1	0	0	1

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.

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.

Player	Points	First-place votes	Second-place votes	Third-place votes
Veronica Burton, point guard, Golden State	78	15	1	0
Azurá Stevens, big, Los Angeles	28	0	8	4
Naz Hillmon, big, Atlanta	23	1	5	3
Allisha Gray, wing, Atlanta	4	0	1	1
Maya Caldwell, off-ball guard, Atlanta	4	0	1	1
Erica Wheeler, point guard, Seattle	1	0	0	1
Jessica Shepard, big, Minnesota	1	0	0	1
Lexie Hull, off-ball guard, Indiana	1	0	0	1
Natisha Hiedeman, combo guard, Minnesota	1	0	0	1
Olivia Nelson-Ododa, center, Connecticut	1	0	0	1
Rickea Jackson, wing, Los Angeles	1	0	0	1
Sug Sutton, combo guard, Washington	1	0	0	1

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.

Player	Points	First-place votes	Second-place votes	Third-place votes
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas	76	14	2	0
Sonia Citron, wing, Washington	50	2	13	1
Kiki Iriafen, big, Washington	14	0	1	1
Dominique Malonga, center, Seattle	2	0	0	2
Leïla Lacan, combo guard, Connecticut	1	0	0	1
Monique Akoa Makani, point guard, Phoenix	1	0	0	1

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

Player	Votes
Kiki Iriafen, big, Washington	16
Paige Bueckers, combo guard, Dallas	16
Sonia Citron, wing, Washington	16
Saniya Rivers, wing, Connecticut	7
Dominique Malonga, center, Seattle	6
Janelle Salaün, combo forward, Golden State	6
Leïla Lacan, combo guard, Connecticut	6
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.

Coach	Points	First-place votes	Second-place votes	Third-place votes
Natalie Nakase, Golden State	69	12	3	0
Karl Smesko, Atlanta	47	3	10	2
Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota	18	1	2	7
Nate Tibbetts, Phoenix	5	0	1	2
Becky Hammon, Las Vegas	5	0	0	5

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.

Executive	Points	First-place votes	Second-place votes	Third-place votes
Nick U’Ren, Phoenix	27	5	5	2
Ohemaa Nyanin, Golden State	23	4	5	1
Dan Padover, Atlanta	14	2	2	4
Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota	10	2	1	2
Jamla Wideman, Washington	2	0	0	2
Curt Miller, Dallas	1	0	0	1
Morgan Tuck, Connecticut	1	0	0	1

With a 38.6% vote share, The Next’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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1. Official relative to our preseason and midseason awards. The Next’s 2025 WNBA postseason awards are as official as The AP’s, which is to say they won’t show up on a player’s Basketball Reference accolades. ↩︎
2. Note that Veronica Burton did win the WNBA’s actual official MIP award on Sept. 16 and did set the record for highest vote share in league history for this award. ↩︎