The midpoint of the 2026 WNBA season has passed, which makes it a good time to do a general end-of-season awards check-in. The MVP award is one of the most prized and something that fans and players alike look forward to each year. A'ja Wilson is a four-time winner of the MVP nod, and she's still the favorite for this season.
But: that doesn't mean that there can't be a few surprises. After all, we still have quite a few basketball games to play... so let's take a look at how the MVP is chosen, and how the top candidates are doing.
The WNBA MVP is chosen by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Besides Wilson, there are three players who have won the award three times: Sheryl Swoopes, Lauren Jackson, and Lisa Leslie. Candace Parker won Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season, and is still the only player in the history of the league to have done so (but Olivia Miles might be giving her a run for her money).
The 2026 WNBA season has a few likely MVP candidates
Right now, Wilson is averaging 25.5 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists, 1.5 steals, and 2.0 blocks per game. Those are numbers that are super similar to what she put up in 2025, and the Aces had a significantly better first half of this season than they did last year. In fact, Wilson is scoring more than she did last season—all factors that combine to make her an excellent MVP candidate. If she keeps playing like this, the only thing Wilson might have to worry about is voter fatigue.
If there is one player who has the best shot of snagging Wilson's crown right now, it's Paige Bueckers. She's helping lead the Dallas Wings through a 2026 season that's so different from their 2025 season it boggles the mind; she's also averaging 20.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 6.3 assists per game. The Wings could even make it to the playoffs this season, a sentence that would have been impossible to believe in 2025—and it's largely thanks to what Bueckers is doing. In other words, she's putting in an MVP-worthy performance this year.
But there are other players worth mentioning, too. It's hard to read about the WNBA and not see something about Olivia Miles, who is averaging 18.7 points, 4.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game. Her impact on the Lynx cannot be overstated; the team is crushing the WNBA standings each week. And though she's been the subject of quite a few headlines that have little to do with her performance this season, Caitlin Clark is averaging 20.1 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 7.8 assists per game and her name will likely be bandied about at the end of the season.
Only time will tell how these players—and others—continue to perform.
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