This has by far been the best year for Angel Reese. She won a gold medal with Team USA at the World Cup. She is set to make her first playoff appearance, and she led the league in rebounding for the third time in a row. But on Saturday, the Atlanta Dream star won the biggest individual award of her career and placed her name in the record books.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
The WNBA star was named Associated Press 2026 Defensive Player of the Year. Reese is now the first player in the Atlanta Dream franchise history to earn the AP Defensive Player of the Year honors. She was in close contention with the Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams to win the award, but Reese’s defensive numbers have simply been too good to ignore.
She led the league in rebounds (12.1). She ranked third in the league in steals (1.8) and guarded multiple positions throughout the season. For a player dominating the paint and guarding multiple positions is rare, but she didn’t disappoint. She has a defensive rating of 100.0 during the regular season. It was 4th-best in the WNBA.
For the last four years, the veterans have dominated the DPOY award, of which A’ja Wilson has won three. This is Reese’s first big individual award since being drafted in 2024. While she has been the league’s rebounding leader for the past three years, winning the DPOY award over big stars like A’ja Wilson and Napheesa Collier truly shows the magnitude of her achievement.
Reese booked her name in multiple records in her first year in Atlanta. She earned the Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors three consecutive times this season. She became the first player in Dream history to do so.
Reese finished the season with 521 rebounds, becoming the first player in WNBA history to record 500+ rebounds in a single season. In August, she grabbed 26 rebounds against the Los Angeles Sparks, setting the new record for most rebounds in a single game.
Aside from Reese, A’ja Wilson, Minnesota Lynx’s rookie Olivia Miles, and several other stars highlighted the Associated Press WNBA individual awards. Wilson took home the Player of the Year award. The Aces star has been leading the MVP race for almost all of the 2026 WNBA season. She is also most favored to win the WNBA’s MVP award. If she does, it will be her fifth, extending her lead for the most MVP awards by a player. Wilson was named AP Player of the Year for the third consecutive time.
Olivia Miles won AP’s Rookie of the Year honor with unanimous votes. Like Wilson, Miles also dominated the ROTY race for most of the season. She was also named to the AP WNBA First Team. In 40 games, Miles averaged 19.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 6.0 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
The Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve was named the Head Coach of the Year. After 2020 and 2024, it was Reeve’s third time receiving the honor. Despite missing her best player Napheesa Collier, Reeve guided her team to the top of the league, led by a rookie star.
Jessica Shepard of the Dallas Wings took home the Most Improved Player honor. In 43 games, the forward player averaged 14.5 points, 11.1 rebounds and 5.3 assists. She averaged career-highs in all major categories.
Janelle Salaun of the Golden State Valkyries won the Sixth Woman of the Year honor. The WNBA forward came off the bench in all of her 40 appearances in her second WNBA season and averaged 12.7 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game.