The WNBA MVP race is often a closed case. It might be this season, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for debate.
As the season progressed, fans and the media often talked about two players as the main candidates for the prestigious award.
| Player A | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
25.9 PPG |
9.5 RPG |
3.1 APG |
2.0 GDP |
51.8 FG% |
| Player B | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
19.9 PPG |
4.7 RPG |
6.2 APG |
50.3 FY % |
40.7 3PT% |
But should there be a third player in the fight? Looking at the statistics, it is strange that this star is not mentioned in those conversations.
| Player C | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
21.7 PPG |
3.8 RPG |
8.3 APG |
44.4 FG% |
35.4 3PT% |
Players B and C both pale in comparison to Player A. But their stats show it both of them belong to.
Have you figured out the players yet?
The A’s are near-unmatched forward A’ja Wilson, who looks to be headed for her record fifth MVP award as she leads the Las Vegas Aces in their quest for a repeat championship.
Player B: Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles. She was such a rookie revelation that she entered the debate over who, if anyone, could dethrone Wilson. She would be the first rookie to win the award since Candace Parker in 2008 — and just the second in league history.
Then there’s Player C. She’s hardly an anonymous upstart, which makes Caitlin Clark’s omission from these conversations all the more curious. Especially considering her recent hot streak.
During a recent 10-2 run, Clark and the Indiana Fever have been on a tear. Seemingly hampered by a back injury earlier this season, Clark appears to be humming along, now putting up historic numbers and career high marks. In her third season, she became the fastest WNBA player to reach 700 assists, in 83 games. The Fever win over Dallas Wings August 14 was Clark’s 20th career game with 20 or more points and 10 or more assists. She is third in scoring average behind Wilson and teammate Kelsey Mitchell.
Does Caitlin Clark have what it takes to be MVP?
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Yet even as the face of the league, she is often subject to intense criticism from non-Fever fans and the national media. Her colleagues curious she ranked 11th among guards in All-Star starter voting.
Of course, there are legitimate counterpoints to Clark’s case.
During the first half of the fever season, Indiana was .500 when Clark played. She struggled from beyond the arc (33.4 percent on 3s), was regularly fouled on late-game defensive possessions and made too many headlines for her technical fouls and turnovers.
The Fever didn’t take a top four seed in the standings until late July, and a top seed has historically been imperative for any MVP contender. Of the last nine awards, only three times the MVP was not from the league’s best team. In 2023, when Breanna Stewart won her second MVP award, the Liberty finished second in the standings. Then in 2024 and 2025, when Wilson won her third and fourth honors, the Aces were fourth and second, respectively, in the league standings at the end of the regular season.
Two weeks before the FIBA World Cup break, Clark’s Fever is fourth in the league standings behind the Lynx, Aces and Golden State Valkyries as of Friday morning. As and Lynx, unlike the Fever, have already won a place in the playoffs.
Clark’s own teammate outclassed her, in a way. Mitchell is more efficient than Clark, shooting just over 50 percent from the field and 44.6 percent from beyond the arc. Mitchell has the best on-off differential for Indiana, while the Fever have a better net rating when Clark is not on the court.
But Clark generally generates more attacks. She accounts for roughly 37 percent of the Fever’s points per game compared to Mitchell’s 31 percent, and Clark ranks second in the league in usage rate (30.6 percent) behind Wilson (32 percent).
Stewart and Wilson both won their first MVP awards in their third seasons, so a Clark win would be right up there with those all-time greats. But she would need a campaign to warm up to her case.
Miles got the secondary buzz over Clark in the MVP conversation in part because of the Fever’s slow start to the season.
Miles has provided plenty of highlights this season and exceeded expectations; by extension, as well as Lynx. She is averaging 19.9 points and 6.2 assists while making 40.7 percent of her 3-pointers, keeping the Lynx atop the list. She delivered two exceptional performances in wins and against Wilson’s aces.
She leads a talented roster, but it’s clear that she’s stepped up the skills of everyone around her, which is especially impressive considering Napheesa Collier is out for most of the season. Natasha Howard has been reborn as a pick-and-roll partner, Nia Coffey had her best season on offense before returning to the Collier bench, and Kayla McBride is shooting the ball better than ever. Courtney Williams is also having her most efficient shooting season now that Miles has moved her back to her preferred shooting guard position.
Miles makes life easy for all of her teammates and makes every Lynx game a can’t-miss show – an element that certainly fueled the MVP chatter around her.
Of course, the MVP conversation is juicier when more names are involved. Let’s call the following players our tributes.
The Liberty entered 2026 with title expectations, and Stewart looked poised to contend for her third MVP award after a nagging injury-riddled 2025 season.
She held up her end of the bargain, averaging 20.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game for the Liberty this season. Arguably a top-five player in the league, this is Stewart’s best performance since her MVP season in 2023. But the Liberty are struggling, and she has work to do to bolster her case.
Paige Bueckers sophomore season was a sight to behold in Dallas. Along with Jessica Shepard and Arike Ogunbowale, Bueckers took the Wings from the bottom of the league to the playoffs in one season. The Wings jumped as high as fourth thanks to a hot July in which they went 7-3, including a five-game winning streak. But since the All-Star break, they’ve soured a bit.
Bueckers is tied for seventh in the league in points per game, averaging 20.5. After the break, her average dropped slightly to 20.3 points per game. With seven games remaining, Bueckers can certainly make one last push to rejoin the conversation, but at this point she has been surpassed by others.
Mitchell is another Fever player who has been overlooked in this MVP race, and she has a stronger case than Bueckers or Stewart. She is second in scoring behind Wilson, averaging 24.6 points per game and is close to a 50-40-90 season. Mitchell is shooting 50.7 percent from the field, 44.6 percent from 3 and 86.2 percent on free throws. Mitchell has recorded 21 consecutive games scored 20 or more points, surpassing Wilson for longest 20-plus point streak in WNBA history.
Mitchell ties WNBA single-season record with 15th consecutive 20-point game
But history is on track to repeat itself this season.
For the past five years, every MVP discussion has started with Wilson — and for good reason.
Wilson is once again a dominant force on both ends of the floor, filling the box score with points, rebounds and blocks, and has improved each season while keeping the Aces as a perennial contender. Wilson leads the league in scoring (25.9 ppg), blocks (2.0 ppg), usage and steals this season. The Aces have a plus-11.7 net rating with her on the field and crater without her.
Then again, a year ago, Collier was the heavy favorite to win her first MVP — she won her first three Player of the Month awards — until a late surge by Wilson and the Aces.
Wilson’s lead in the race is insurmountable until it isn’t.
