A’ja Wilson has won the WNBA Most Valuable Player award for a record fifth time, the league announced on Thursday 8 October. The A’ja Wilson MVP win makes the Las Vegas Aces forward the first player to claim five awards and the first to win three in a row. She took 65 of the 74 first-place votes from a national media panel, according to the WNBA. She finished with 713 points, well clear of Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles.
Wilson was honoured before Game 3 of the Aces’ semi-final in Las Vegas the following night. However, the defending champions then lost to the Golden State Valkyries in overtime and went out of the play-offs.
A’ja Wilson MVP Voting Results
Wilson received 65 first-place votes and nine second-place votes. Here is how the top five finished, according to the WNBA:
- 1. A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces): 713 points, 65 first-place votes
- 2. Olivia Miles (Minnesota Lynx): 442 points, six first-place votes
- 3. Kelsey Mitchell (Indiana Fever): 287 points, two first-place votes
- 4. Caitlin Clark (Indiana Fever): 212 points, one first-place vote
- 5. Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty): 171 points
Miles also won Rookie of the Year unanimously. See every winner in our WNBA awards 2026 round-up.
Wilson’s 2026 Season in Numbers
Wilson averaged 26.2 points, 9.4 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.9 blocks and 1.4 steals in 41 games. She shot 52.7% from the field, 40.4% from three-point range and 86.4% from the free-throw line, the WNBA said.
That scoring average was the second-highest in league history, behind only her own 26.9 in 2024, CBS Sports reported. In addition, she won her third straight scoring title and led the league in blocks for a fifth straight season.
Records Broken This Season
Wilson’s season was full of milestones. According to the WNBA and CBS Sports, she:
- became the first five-time MVP in WNBA history
- became the first player to win the award three seasons in a row
- scored 30 or more points in 13 games, tying her own single-season record
- became the first player with five 40-point games in her career
- reached 6,000 career points faster than any other player
- broke Becky Hammon’s Aces franchise scoring record
Her career scoring average of 22.1 points is also the highest in WNBA history. Furthermore, the Aces were 24.8 points per 100 possessions better with Wilson on the court than without her, CBS Sports noted.
Among the Greatest Ever
Few athletes in any basketball league have won five MVP awards. In the NBA, only Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (six), Bill Russell and Michael Jordan (five each) have reached that number, CBS Sports pointed out.
Wilson had already won the award in 2020, 2022, 2024 and 2025. She was also named AP WNBA Player of the Year for a third straight season in September.
How the A’ja Wilson MVP Season Ended
Las Vegas finished the regular season 31–13 as the No. 3 seed. They beat the Indiana Fever in the first round, with Wilson scoring 38 points in Game 1.
However, the Valkyries swept them in the semi-finals. In the deciding game, Wilson scored 21 points on 6-of-19 shooting as Golden State won 87–77 in overtime, NBC Sports reported. The Aces had won three of the previous four championships.
The Valkyries now face the Atlanta Dream for the title. Read our WNBA Finals 2026 preview, and tell us in the comments whether Wilson is the greatest WNBA player of all time.
