A'ja Wilson and Alanna Smith share WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award

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HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas Aces star A'ja Wilson was voted WNBA Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday for the third time in four seasons, sharing the award this time with Alanna Smith of the Minnesota Lynx.

Each player received 29 votes from the 72 media members who participated. It's the first time the award, first given out in the WNBA's inaugural season in 1997, went to more than one player.

Wilson, who also won the award in 2022 and 2023, tied Sheryl Swoopes for the third-highest number of times capturing top defensive player. Tamika Catchings owns the record with five and Sylvia Fowles is next with four.

Wilson led the league with 2.3 blocks per game, was third with 7.9 defensive rebounds per game and finished fourth with an average of 1.6 steals.

The Lynx led the WNBA with 97.5 points per 100 possessions. Smith was second in combined steals and blocks with 135 and third in average blocks with 1.9 and total blocks with 80.

She is the second Minnesota player in a row to at least share this award. Napheesa Collier was voted the league's top defensive player in 2024, making the Lynx the first team to have two different players win the award in consecutive seasons.

Wilson and Collier are the front-runners for MVP, so whether the defensive player voting was any kind of harbinger for what could be a close vote remains to be seen. That award will be announced Sunday.

The Lynx captured the top seed for the playoffs, and the Aces were second.

Wilson and Smith were far ahead of the others in votes for top defender. Seattle's Gabby Williams was third with nine votes, Phoenix's Alyssa Thomas had three and Collier two.

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AP WNBA: https://apnews.com/hub/wnba-basketball