The Golden State Valkyries are too good.
One of the bigger surprises of the WNBA season, the Valkyries are the No. 2 seed in just their second season as a franchise. They have dominated the league due to the league's best defense, which has absolutely smothered opponents all season long.
Gabby Williams joined the team this year and has been resplendent on both ends of the court, but especially on defense. Her speed, length, instincts and strength on the perimeter and rotating into the paint are truly unique. She is a worthy candidate for Defensive Player of the Year - but she won't win.
The reason? The Golden State Valkyries are too good.
Gabby Williams deserves Defensive Player of the Year
First, Williams absolutely deserves to win the WNBA's Defensive Player of the Year award. She is the league's best perimeter defender, locking down opponents with her length and forcing them into terrible shots or to pass out of their attack.
She also thrives creating chaos by generating steals that spark the Valkyries' transition attack (she leads the league in steal rate). To find top-tier evidence of that, just watch the highlights from the Valkyries' exhilarating last-second comeback win over the Los Angeles Sparks on the last night of the season. Williams stole the ball and then pushed the ball herself, taking it to the rim for a layup that cut the lead to two inside the final minute.
Williams combines turnover creation with holding opponents to cold shooting, and she does that when she rotates into the paint as well. Her impact is prodigious, and her agility and length allow her to defend all five positions at times. Player tracking stats do a great job of picking up that impact and highlighting how good Williams has been.
That impact helped to elevate the Valkyries to incredible heights. They finished 32-12, one win behind the first-place Minnesota Lynx, and had the league's best net rating. Their defense was not only the best in the W by a mile, but it was the best relative to league average in WNBA history.
Not only did the Golden State Valkyries lead the WNBA in defensive rating (99.1), they, relative to league average (~9.6 points stingier), just put together the greatest defensive season in league history.
— Nekias (Nuh-KAI-us) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) September 25, 2026
Cannot stress to you how ridiculous that it.
Gabby Williams is arguably the league's best defender and she is inarguably on the best defense in WNBA history. She should be a shoe-in for the award. What's the problem?
The Valkyries appear to be too good.
Voters are not going to pick Gabby Williams
As media outlets publish their picks for Defensive Player of the Year, the likelihood of each player winning a certain award comes into focus. Not all voters will do so, of course, but it's a fairly strong barometer of who should be the favorite for each award.
A'ja Wilson is going to win MVP - no surprise there. Olivia Miles is the obvious pick for Rookie of the Year. Coach of the Year and Most Improved look to be more contested.
And for Defensive Player of the Year, Angel Reese is receiving most of the votes from public ballots and media outlets.
The Athletic overwhelmingly chose Reese for the award. As did CBS and SB Nation. Bleacher Report chose Shakira Austin. Of the major outlets surveyed, only ESPN gave the award to Gabby Williams.
Reese is absolutely a dominant defender deserving of much praise, and she belongs on the ballot, fighting it out with players like A'ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, Veronica Burton and Austin.
Why are so many voters choosing Reese? They point to her rebounding (truly elite) and her steal rate (absolutely very strong, but also a result of Atlanta's defensive scheme - three Dream players rank in the top 5). The main reason they cited, however, was that the Dream are significantly worse on defense when Reese is off the court.
When Williams leaves the court, elite defenders are on the court. When Reese leaves the court, the Dream have no answers. That speaks to Reese's ability to elevate her teammates, yes, but she is not a better defender than Williams because their team contexts are different.
Cases for Reese also ignore her prodigious foul rate; she leads the league in fouls, which often results in free points for the opposing team. Williams is nowhere near the league leaders in that stat. And overall, the Dream have a very good defense, but it's nowhere near the Valkyries' level of play this season, with or without Reese on the court.
Gabby Williams deserves Defensive Player of the Year. The Valkyries have the best defense in the history of the league, and she is a versatile linchpin for that group -- and yes, surrounded by other great defenders. That shouldn't penalize her.
But it will. And it appears that Williams will lose an award that she deserves not because she is a worse defender, but because one stat outside of her control props up Reese. That will be frustrating for Williams and Valkyries fans to s
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