Best on defense: Gamecock great A’ja Wilson adds another WNBA honor
South Carolina women’s basketball legend A’ja Wilson has done nothing but add to her already impressively long list of accolades since arriving to the WNBA in 2018.
She’s added to the list once again.
The WNBA announced Wilson was its 2025 Co-Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday. The Las Vegas Aces’ star is sharing the award with Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith.
This is Wilson’s third time being named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in her career.
A panel of 72 sportswriters and broadcasters voted on the awards. Wilson and Smith both had 29 votes and were followed by Seattle’s Gabby Williams (nine votes), Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas (three votes) and Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier (two votes).
This is the first time in WNBA history the voting for a key individual award (Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Most Improved Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year or Sixth Player of the Year) has ended in a tie.
Wilson led the league in blocks (2.3 per game), player efficiency (33.3), defensive win shares (3.1), defensive rating (96.4) and usage percentage (32.1). She finished second in rebounds (10.2 per game) and defensive boards (7.9 per game). Wilson was also one of three players to contest at least 100 shots at the rim while holding opponents to under 50% on those shots, per WNBA analyst Nekias Duncan.
This season Wilson averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds per game. Wilson became the only player in WNBA history to average at least 20 points, 10 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks and 1 steal in a season this year. Those numbers were technically down from her MVP season last year but still more than enough to garner her an All-Star nod and end-of-season awards from the Associated Press and the WNBA.
Wilson was named the AP Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year last week.
This story was originally published September 18, 2025 at 3:03 PM.
