On Sunday, the WNBA announced on social media the league's All-Defensive teams and the Defensive Player of the Year for the 2024 season. As expected, South Carolina basketball alum A'ja Wilson made the WNBA 1st team All-Defensive team, but just like was the case with the AP version of the award, Wilson was robbed of the Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year honor.
Instead, Napheesa Collier was selected (just like she was with the AP Defensive Player of the Year), but Wilson was a better defensive player all season.
The Minnesota Lynx star had very comparable numbers to Wilson in steals, but the league's unanimous MVP was significantly better than Collier in blocked shots and defensive rebounds. Wilson also committed far fewer personal fouls. Collier played as part of a much better team defense with the Minnesota Lynx, while Wilson powered the Las Vegas Aces to a top-5 team defensive rating despite not having as much help on that end of the floor.
Over a week ago, A'ja Wilson's head coach Becky Hammon saw the narrative forming in favor of Collier and went on an epic rant in support of her star player. During her time talking to the media that day, Hammon argued that the only reason Wilson wasn't the obvious choice for Defensive Player of the Year must be that the media and the WNBA are "tired of giving this young woman awards."
Hammon's suspicions (which stemmed from ESPN's choices for WNBA award winners) proved to be correct as Collier won the Defensive Player of the Year trophy from both the AP and from the WNBA media. Another win for Wilson would have made her just the third player in league history to win the honor three times (she would have joined Hall of Famers Sylvia Fowles and Tamika Catchings). Because of the snub, however, Wilson's quest for a third DPOY will have to wait until next season.
For now, A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces will continue their fight for a three-peat. The 2022 and 2023 WNBA Finals champions are facing off with the #1-seed New York Liberty in game 1 of their best-of-5 semifinal series. The contest will tip off at 3:00 PM ET in New York, and the game will be broadcast on ABC and ESPN+ and streamed on the ESPN app.