A’ja Wilson unanimous choice as WNBA MVP

It’s the third time the Las Vegas Aces star has won the honor.

Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson was the unanimous choice as the WNBA MVP, the league announced Sunday.

The Aces’ versatile forward averaged 26.9 points and 11.8 rebounds this season. She’s only the second player to win the award unanimously, joining Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets, who did it in the league’s inaugural 1997 season.

Wilson received all 67 first-place votes from a national media panel, making her a three-time award winner (2020 and 2022.) She’s the fourth player in WNBA history to reach that milestone, joining Sherly Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) finished in second place, followed by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (295 points), Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (130 points) and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (83 points) in fifth.

Wilson finished third in the MVP voting last year, receiving one fourth-place vote that she said fueled her after the Aces won their second straight WNBA title.

“It propelled me a little bit as I started my offseason workouts, but around February I was over it,” she said. “I didn’t want to give that person that energy, that’s when I started to lock in.”

Wilson finished the regular season with 1,021 points, 451 rebounds and led the league with 98 blocks. The 6-foot-4 Wilson broke the WNBA single-season record for scoring average, which had been set by Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi in 2006 (25.3 ppg).

She had a season high 42 points against Dallas and a few days later dropped 41 against Phoenix. In all, she scored at least 20 points in 34 of her 38 games. She was relentless with rebounds, grabbing 9.8 defensive a game, the highest single-season average in league history.

Wilson’s 11.87 rebound average is third-best in league history, trailing Angel Reese and Sylvia Fowles.