Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson (22) shoots a layup during the second half of Game 1 in a WNBA basketball semifinal playoff series against the Dallas Wings Sunday, Sept. 24, 2023, in Las Vegas.
Published Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023 | 10:33 a.m.
Updated Tuesday, Sept. 26, 2023 | 11:30 a.m.
A'ja Wilson's bid for a second straight MVP came up short.
New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart was given the WNBA's top honor Tuesday in the closest three-way race in league history.
Stewart received 446 voting points and 20 first-place votes, with Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas finishing second with the most first-place votes (23) and 439 points.
Wilson, the two-time MVP who led the Aces to the best record in league history and averaged a career-high 22.8 points and 9.5 rebounds on 55.7% shooting, finished third. She received just 17 first-place votes and finished six points behind Thomas.
"My initial thought is control what I can control," Wilson said this morning. "I've been in those situations where I have no control over it, so I can't really harp on it. It sucks, obviously, but at the end of the day, I'm going to be who I am through and through, and I'm blessed."
Aces guard Chelsea Gray finished seventh in voting, and Jackie Young (three fourth-place votes) also received recognition.
Stewart signed with the Liberty this past offseason after spending the first six seasons of her career with Seattle. The 2018 MVP averaged a career-high 23 points per game and had three games of 40 points and 10 rebounds to help New York to the second-best record in the league.
It was expected that Wilson and Stewart would finish 1-2 in the race, given they're the stars on the two best teams.
The back-to-back Defensive Player of the Year was dominant after the all-star break, averaging 26.2 points and 9.7 rebounds and shooting 58% with the Aces going 15-4 in that run. The stretch included Wilson tying the WNBA record with 53 points at Atlanta on Aug. 22.
"I don't really need to be motivated. My motivation in itself is to be here, to be present, being in a space that people didn't think I'd ever be in," Wilson said. "This award, it's a cherry on top on the mountain of ice cream we've built up. The sundae is still good without the cherry, and that's how I look at it. I'm not going to finish the bowl of ice cream because the cherry's not on top. I've still done enough, and this team has more to give."
Wilson said it "hurt like hell" to not win the award, and she would've been surprised to not feel any emotion toward it. She said, however, that she's not going to let it impact her in the Aces' ultimate goal of trying to win back-to-back WNBA titles.
They'll try to take a 2-0 series lead against the Dallas Wings tonight at Michelob Ultra Arena (7 p.m., ESPN).
"At the end of the day, we have a great team that we have to play against in Dallas, and that is my main foucs," Wilson said. "(Coach) Becky (Hammon) called me out, and I said, 'just give me 24 hours, and I'll be ready.' After I got here to the gym and I just kind of sweated it out, it's a new feeling. It's a new groove I'm going to start being in.
"I can't harp on this because I don't owe that to my teammates. My teammates owe my physical, emotional, everything, every single day because they put in the work for us to get this far."
Danny Webster can be reached at 702-259-8814 or [email protected]. Follow Danny on Twitter at twitter.com/DannyWebster21.
