Best WNBA Player ESPY Award

The Best WNBA Player ESPY Award is an award given at the ESPY Awards show. It has been presented annually since 1998 to the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) player who has been voted the best in the preceding year before the ceremony. Beginning in 2003, the winner has been chosen by online voting,[1][2] before that, determination of the winners was made by an panel of experts.[3]

The inaugural winner was Cynthia Cooper, who would go on to win three consecutive awards. Candace Parker has won the award a record four times, while Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie and Diana Taurasi have won the award three times. Only Cooper and Taurasi had their three wins in consecutive years. All winners other than Jackson, who is Australian, have been American. Winners have played all five of the standard Basketball positions, the most honored position is power forward, players playing power forward have won eight awards. The award wasn't awarded in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

List of winners

  Player was a member of the winning team in the WNBA Finals
  Player was a member of the losing team in the WNBA Finals
† WNBA Finals MVP

Year Player Nationality Position played Team represented Ref
1998 Cynthia Cooper†  United States Point guard Houston Comets [4]
1999 Cynthia Cooper (2)†  United States Point guard Houston Comets [4]
2000 Cynthia Cooper (3)†  United States Point guard Houston Comets [4]
2001 Sheryl Swoopes  United States Small forward Houston Comets [4]
2002 Lisa Leslie†  United States Center Los Angeles Sparks [4]
2003 Lisa Leslie (2)†  United States Center Los Angeles Sparks [4]
2004 Lauren Jackson  Australia Power forward Seattle Storm [4]
2005 Lauren Jackson (2)  Australia Power forward Seattle Storm [4]
2006 Sheryl Swoopes (2)  United States Small forward Houston Comets [4]
2007 Lisa Leslie (3)  United States Center Los Angeles Sparks [4]
2008 Lauren Jackson (3)  Australia Power forward Seattle Storm [4]
2009 Candace Parker  United States Power forward Los Angeles Sparks [5]
2010 Diana Taurasi†  United States Shooting guard Phoenix Mercury [6]
2011 Diana Taurasi (2)  United States Shooting guard Phoenix Mercury [7]
2012 Diana Taurasi (3)  United States Shooting guard Phoenix Mercury [8]
2013 Candace Parker (2)  United States Power forward Los Angeles Sparks [5]
2014 Maya Moore  United States Small forward Minnesota Lynx† [9]
2015 Skylar Diggins  United States Point guard Tulsa Shock [10]
2016 Maya Moore (2)  United States Small forward Minnesota Lynx [11]
2017 Candace Parker (3)†  United States Power forward Los Angeles Sparks [12]
2018 Maya Moore (3)  United States Small forward Minnesota Lynx [13]
2019 Breanna Stewart  United States Power forward Seattle Storm [14]
2020 Not awarded due to the COVID-19 pandemic
2021 Breanna Stewart (2)  United States Power forward Seattle Storm [15]
2022 Candace Parker (4)  United States Power forward Chicago Sky [16]
2023 A'ja Wilson  United States Power forward Las Vegas Aces [17]
2024 A'ja Wilson (2)†  United States Power forward Las Vegas Aces [18]

See also

References

  1. ^ "The 2004 ESPY Awards - Fans to decide all 2004 ESPY Award winners". ESPN.com. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  2. ^ "ESPN Wants You to Vote … for ESPYs". Multichannel. April 22, 2004. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  3. ^ "Committee is newly found". ESPN.com. February 3, 1999. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "All-Time ESPY Winners". ESPN.com. June 24, 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  5. ^ a b "Candace Parker wins ESPY for Best WNBA Player". Knoxville News Sentinel. July 18, 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  6. ^ "Taurasi wins ESPY as best WNBA player". FoxSports.com. July 15, 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  7. ^ "2011 ESPY Awards -- Winners revealed in Los Angeles". ESPN.com. July 14, 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  8. ^ "2012 ESPY Awards Winners: Results, Recap and Top Moments". Bleacher Report. July 12, 2012. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  9. ^ McDonald, Soraya Nadia (July 17, 2014). "The top 10 moments from the 2014 ESPY awards". The Washington Post. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  10. ^ "ESPY Awards: The Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. July 15, 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  11. ^ "Maya Moore Wins ESPY Award For Best WNBA Player". Minnesota Lynx. July 15, 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  12. ^ "ESPY Awards 2017: Complete Winners List". The Hollywood Reporter. July 12, 2017. Retrieved 23 January 2018.
  13. ^ "2018 ESPY Awards: Winners list".
  14. ^ "2019 ESPYS award winners". ESPN. July 10, 2019. Retrieved 16 March 2020.
  15. ^ "2021 ESPYS award winners". ESPN.com. July 10, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2021.
  16. ^ "2022 ESPYS: Full list of award winners". ESPN.com. July 20, 2022. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
  17. ^ "2023 ESPYS: Full list of award winners". ESPN.com. July 13, 2023. Retrieved July 13, 2023.
  18. ^ "2024 ESPYS: Here is the list of winners". ESPN.com. July 11, 2024. Retrieved July 11, 2024.