Angel Reese Named 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, Dethroning Three-Time Winner A'ja Wilson

Since the Dream swept the Washington Mystics in the first round of the playoffs this week, the award season has caught up with the headlines on the court. The WNBA announced Thursday, October 1, that Angel Reese is the 2026 Kia Defensive Player of the Year, her first major individual award in three professional seasons.

Reese received 46 of 74 votes from a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, according to TSN. Golden State's Gabby Williams finished second with 20 votes. A'ja Wilson, who had won the award in three of the previous four seasons, finished third with four votes. Washington's Shakira Austin got two, and Golden State's Veronica Burton and Dream teammate Rhyne Howard each received one.

Reese set the WNBA single-season rebounding record with 521 boards, according to both Yahoo Sports and CBS News, including a league-record 206 offensive rebounds. She also broke the single-game rebounding record with 26 against the Los Angeles Sparks in August, and set a new league mark with 32 double-doubles in a season, per TSN.

On the advanced stats side, Reese led the WNBA in Defensive Win Shares at 3.39 and ranked fourth in defensive rating at 100.0, according to CBS News and Yahoo Sports. Atlanta allowed 7.9 fewer points per 100 possessions with Reese on the floor than off it, the largest on-off defensive split among the team's regular rotation players, CBS News reported. TSN described that same split as the second-best differential among all players who logged at least 500 minutes this season.

Canada, Howard and Reese finished first, second and third in the league in steals per game, respectively. The trio helped anchor one of the WNBA's best defenses, according to CBS News. Reese averaged 1.8 steals per game, third in the league behind her own teammates.

Sources differ slightly on Reese's scoring and rebounding averages. CBS News and Heavy both put her at 16.4 points per game this season, while Newsweek listed her scoring average at 6.4 points per game. That figure does not match the other reporting and appears to be an error given her 521 total rebounds and 16-point scoring nights were central to her double-double streak. TSN also listed her season rebounding record at 500 rather than the 521 figure confirmed by CBS News and Yahoo Sports, understating her actual total. Readers should treat the 521 rebounds and 16.4 points per game figures, corroborated by multiple outlets, as the accurate numbers.

Reese's mother, Angel Webb Reese, surprised her with the trophy and flowers during a team gathering, with Atlanta rapper Latto providing voice-over for a celebration video Reese posted on social media, according to CBS News and Newsweek.

"I have the trophy, but I definitely want Jordin and Rhyne to sign it because I think they deserve it just as much as I do," Reese said, according to CBS News. "I'm grateful for Atlanta, I'm grateful for my teammates and my coaches and all the supporting staff that supports us. This is just the beginning."

Reese told ESPN, as relayed by TSN, that she had called her shot earlier in the season. "I told my coaches earlier in the season I am going to be the Defensive Player of the Year," she said. "I don't know if it's going to be this year, I don't know if it's going to be next year, but I'm challenging myself, and I want you guys to challenge me every day to be that. And here it is."

Dream head coach Karl Smesko credited her versatility. "She can guard any position," Smesko said, according to TSN. "She's not afraid of any challenge. She relishes these opportunities and steps up in big moments."

It is the first award for any Dream player in franchise history, and comes in Reese's first season in Atlanta after two non-playoff years with the Chicago Sky, which drafted her seventh overall in 2024, according to the LSU Tiger Wire. Reese also helped the U.S. win gold at the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin earlier this year, per CBS News.

Atlanta finished off Washington 93-75 in Wednesday's sweep, with Reese posting 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks and 2 steals in that game, according to Heavy. The Dream face the New York Liberty, who swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx in their own first-round series, in a semifinal set to begin Sunday. It is Reese's first postseason appearance of her career, and her first chance to match an individual trophy with a playoff win.