Las Vegas Aces superstar A'ja Wilson seems like a shoo-in to win the 2024 WNBA MVP, which would mark the third time she's won the award in her esteemed career.
Wilson has been dominant this year, averaging 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 1.8 steals and 2.6 blocks per game. Those are the best statistics of her career across the board, as she's somehow improved significantly from her previous MVP seasons in 2022 and 2020.
If (more like when) she wins this year's MVP, she'll join an elite and exclusive list of WNBA players who have won three MVPs. In league history, only three others players have achieved the feat; Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson.
We'll take a closer look at the MVP seasons of each of those three players, and compare them to Wilson's dominant campaign in 2024.
Sheryl Swoopes
Swoopes played 12 seasons in the W from 1997–2011. Her first WNBA MVP award came in her fourth season during the 2000 season. That year, Swoopes played for the Houston Comets and averaged a league-best 20.7 points per game. In addition to her MVP, she was named Defensive Player of the Year after posting 2.8 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. The Comets won the WNBA championship that year, defeating the New York Liberty in two games.
Swoopes missed the entire 2001 season with an injury, but returned in 2002 and was quickly her dominant self once more. In '02, she averaged 18.5 points, good for third in the league. She again won Defensive Player of the Year that season.
Her third and final MVP season was in 2005. Still with the Comets, Swoopes put up 18.6 points, 4.3 assists and 3.6 rebounds to go with 2.0 steals per night. She finished second in Defensive Player of the Year that season, finishing as the runner up behind Tamika Catchings.
Lisa Leslie
Leslie was a bonafide superstar from the moment she arrived in the WNBA. After narrowly missing out on the award in each of her first four seasons––including a runner-up finish behind Swoopes in 2000––Leslie claimed her first MVP in 2001. That year, she averaged 19.5 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game while leading the Los Angeles Sparks to a WNBA title.
In 2004, Leslie won her second MVP. She averaged 17.6 points, 9.9 rebounds and 1.5 blocks. That season, her age-31 campaign, she was also named the Defensive Player of the Year. She also starred for the U.S. at the Olympics that year, leading the team to its fifth gold medal.
Leslie won her third MVP in 2006. She averaged 20.0 points, 9.5 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game while shooting 51.1% from the field, the second-best percentage of her career. The following season, Leslie did not play due to maternity leave, and she returned for two more campaigns in 2008 and '09 before retiring.
Lauren Jackson
Sue Bird will be mentioned alongside Lauren Jackson as some of the greatest players to ever suit up for the Seattle Storm.
Jackson played from 2001 to 2012, spending her whole career with the Storm. Her first MVP award came in her third season (2003), when she averaged 21.2 points, 9.3 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game. No one in the WNBA averaged more points per game, and she ranked fourth in the league in rebounding.
Jackson won her second MVP in 2007, when she again led the league in scoring after posting 23.8 points per night. Jackson shot over 40% from three-point territory that year and corralled a career high 9.7 rebounds per game en route to winning both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year.
In 2010, Jackson led the Storm to a WNBA championship and won her third MVP after averaging 20.5 points and 8.3 rebounds. She played just 22 games over the subsequent two seasons before retiring from the league.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Full List of WNBA Players to Win Three MVP Awards .
