WNBA Defensive Player of the Year
Annual basketball award
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Women's National Basketball Association's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season -- 1997, to the top defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters throughout the United States, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
Tamika Catchings has won the defensive player of the year award more times than any other player with the record of 5.[1]
Winners
| Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA | |
| Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame | |
| Denotes player whose team won championship that year | |
| Player (X) | Denotes the number of times the player has won |
| Team (X) | Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won |
Multi-time winners
| Awards | Player | Team(s) | Years |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Tamika Catchings | Indiana Fever | 2005, 2006, 2009, 2010, 2012 |
| 4 | Sylvia Fowles | Chicago Sky / Minnesota Lynx | 2011, 2013, 2016, 2021 |
| 3 | Sheryl Swoopes | Houston Comets | 2000, 2002, 2003 |
| A'ja Wilson | Las Vegas Aces | 2022, 2023, 2025 | |
| 2 | Teresa Weatherspoon | New York Liberty | 1997, 1998 |
| Lisa Leslie | Los Angeles Sparks | 2004, 2008 | |
| Brittney Griner | Phoenix Mercury | 2014, 2015 | |
| Alana Beard | Los Angeles Sparks | 2017, 2018 |