Going into the season, the favorite for Sixth Player of the Year seemed obvious: Chennedy Carter was bound to put on a show for the Las Vegas Aces—and she did for a while. However, Carter isn’t on the team anymore, leaving Janelle Salaün as the favorite for the award.
Sophie Cunningham wormed her way into the conversation with some hot 3-point shooting for the fifth-placed Indiana Fever. She’s their most important reserve and is one of the most lethal 3-point shooters in the league this season. She has also outpaced most other top reserves in terms of production.
However, Salaün just continues to create separation from Cunningham, making her case for Sixth Player of the Year more of a fever dream than an actual possibility. Salaün put together back-to-back 20-point games off the Valkyries’ bench in two wins. Cunningham, meanwhile, scored just three points in a loss to the Lynx and is making headlines with dangerous, hateful, and extremely ill-informed comments against trans women and girls rather than good on-court performances.
Janelle Salaün is miles ahead of everyone else in the Sixth Player of the Year race
After two consecutive 20-point games, Salaün has now scored a total of 403 points off the bench while shooting an efficient 40.5% from deep. Cunningham is next in line with 248 points scored. Not only is the gap between Salaün and the next player massive, but she has also already scored more points off the bench than any player did last season. Natisha Hiedeman led the W in total points off the bench with 399 last year.
Scoring and hitting tough shots is definitely Salaün’s bread and butter, but it’s not everything she does. She also leads all bench players in total rebounds with 114, and ranks fourth in steals.
Team record only bolsters Salaün’s case for Sixth Player of the Year. She’s not only the most productive reserve in the league, but her contributions are fueling winning at a high level. The Valkyries are third in the standings with a 21-9 record.
Veronica Burton, Gabby Williams, and Kiah Stokes are all having great seasons in the Valkyries’ starting lineup, but the bench is a major reason for the Valkyries’ success. They average 35.9 bench points per game—seven more than the next team in line—and Salaün is the head of the snake in the second unit. Being able to go to the bench without a notable dropoff is one of the Valkyries’ superpowers, and it will be invaluable in the playoffs.
This award is Salaün’s to lose, and she has already created so much separation that it seems unlikely that anyone will catch up.
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