New York, Sep 22 (IANS): Las Vegas Aces center-forward A’ja Wilson has been named the 2024 WNBA Most Valuable Player, the WNBA announced on Sunday.

This marks the record-tying third WNBA MVP Award for Wilson, who also earned the honour in 2020 and 2022. She is the fourth player in WNBA history to win three MVPs, joining Sheryl Swoopes (2000, 2002 and 2005), Lisa Leslie (2001, 2004 and 2006) and Lauren Jackson (2003, 2007 and 2010).

Wilson received all 67 first-place votes (670 points) from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, making her the first unanimous WNBA MVP since the Houston Comets’ Cynthia Cooper in the league’s inaugural season of 1997.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) finished in second place, followed by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (295 points) in third place, Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (130 points) in fourth place and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (83 points) in fifth place.

Players were awarded 10 points for a first-place vote, seven points for a second-place vote, five points for a third-place vote, three points for a fourth-place vote and one point for a fifth-place vote.

In her seventh WNBA season, Wilson averaged 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.58 blocked shots and 1.79 steals in 34.4 minutes in 38 games. She ranked first in the WNBA in both points and blocks, second in rebounds, fifth in steals and fourth in minutes, setting career highs in all five per-game categories. Wilson also finished seventh in the league in field goal percentage (51.8) and 17th in free throw percentage (84.4).

The 6'4 Wilson broke the WNBA single-season record for scoring average, which had been set by Phoenix Mercury guard Diana Taurasi in 2006 (25.3 ppg). Wilson also set single-season records with 1,021 total points and 451 total rebounds. She is the first player to lead the WNBA in total points, rebounds and blocks (98) in a season.

In the 2024 regular season, Wilson was named the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Month four times (May, June, July and September) and the WNBA Western Conference Player of the Week six times (Weeks 3, 6, 7, 8, 10 and 12). A six-time WNBA All-Star, Wilson played for the USA Women’s National Team in the 2024 AT&T WNBA All-Star Game before leading the United States to the gold medal at the Paris Olympics, where she was honoured as the MVP of the tournament.