Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty won the 2023 WNBA MVP award on Tuesday after a competitive three-way race. Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun and A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces were just barely beaten out for the honour by Stewart.
In a contest for MVP that turned out to be historically close, Stewart came in with 446 points. Thomas (439 points) and Wilson (433 points) were in second and third place, respectively, behind the Liberty star.
Stewart had already won the MVP in 2018 while playing for the Seattle Storm, making this her second victory in the category. Stewart won this year, making him the first Liberty player to ever win MVP.
Wilson, however, was going for her third MVP after taking home the trophy in 2020 and 2022. She would have became the second player to win back-to-back MVPs and the second player in WNBA history to win the award three times. Thomas is still looking for her first MVP in the meanwhile.
Over 40 games, Stewart averaged 46.5% from 3-point range while averaging 23.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.6 blocks, and 2.1 3-pointers per game. With a 32-8 record, she steered the Liberty to the second-best league ranking.
Over 40 games, Thomas averaged 47.4% for 15.5 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 7.9 apg, 1.8 spg, and 0.5 bpg on average. With a 27-13 record, she helped the Sun finish third in the league.
Over the course of 40 games, Wilson averaged 22.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg, and 2.2 bpg on 55.7% shooting. She guided the Aces to the best record in the WNBA (34-6).
Breanna Stewart won the 2023 WNBA MVP despite not getting the most first-place votes
The 2023 WNBA MVP contest, according to ESPN, was only the second time in league history when the winner did not receive the majority of first-place votes. Alyssa Thomas received 23 first-place votes, while Breanna Stewart received 20. Nevertheless, Stewart received more votes for second and third place than Thomas, resulting in a higher final score for Stewart.
The previous time this happened was in 2005, when Lauren Jackson finished in second place with 20, and WNBA great Sheryl Swoopes won MVP with 16 first-place votes.
Therefore, it would seem that the 60 experts that cast votes for the 2023 WNBA MVP genuinely came down to the last few votes.
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