WNBA Most Improved Player Award explained

The Women's National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 2000 WNBA season, to the most improved player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.

In 2019, Leilani Mitchell became the first player in history to win the award twice, after winning the award in 2010. In 2004, there was a tie -- both Kelly Miller and Wendy Palmer received the award. Nicole Powell, Natasha Howard, and Jackie Young are the only players to win the Most Improved award and a WNBA title in the same year.

Winners

	Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA
	Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
	Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
	Denotes player whose team won championship that year
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has won
Team (X)	Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won

Season	Player		Position	Nationality	Team	First-Place Votes	Ref.
2000	Tari Phillips	2	Forward / Center		New York Liberty	19 out of 62	^[1]
2001	Janeth Arcain	5	Guard		Houston Comets	25 out of 60	^[2]
2002	Coco Miller	2			Washington Mystics	14 out of 60	^[3]
2003	Michelle Snow		Forward / Center		Houston Comets (2)	22 out of 53	^[4]
2004	Kelly Miller	4	Guard		Indiana Fever	9 out of 48 (tie)	^[5]
	Wendy Palmer	8	Forward		Connecticut Sun
2005	Nicole Powell	2				20 out of 49	^[6]
2006	Erin Buescher	5			Sacramento Monarchs (2)	28 out of 56	^[7]
2007	Janel McCarville	3	Center		New York Liberty (2)	33 out of 51	^[8]
2008	Ebony Hoffman	5	Forward		Indiana Fever (2)	31 out of 44	^[9]
2009	Crystal Langhorne	2			Washington Mystics (2)	19 out of 40	^[10]
2010	Leilani Mitchell	3	Guard		New York Liberty (3)	29 out of 39	^[11]
2011	Kia Vaughn		Center		New York Liberty (4)	15 out of 40	^[12]
2012	Kristi Toliver	4	Guard		Los Angeles Sparks	24 out of 41	^[13]
2013	Shavonte Zellous	5			Indiana Fever (3)	30 out of 39	^[14]
2014	Skylar Diggins-Smith	2			Tulsa Shock	29 out of 38	^[15]
2015	Kelsey Bone	3	Center		Connecticut Sun (2)	14 out of 39	^[16]
2016	Elizabeth Williams	2	Forward / Center		Atlanta Dream	14 out of 39	^[17]
2017	Jonquel Jones				Connecticut Sun (3)	32 out of 40	^[18]
2018	Natasha Howard	5	Forward		Seattle Storm	29 out of 39	^[19]
2019	Leilani Mitchell (2)	11	Guard			27 out of 43	^[20]
2020	Betnijah Laney	5	Forward / Guard		Atlanta Dream (2)	25 out of 47	^[21]
2021	Brionna Jones		Forward		Connecticut Sun (4)	38 out of 49	^[22]
2022	Jackie Young	4	Guard		Las Vegas Aces	32 out of 56	^[23]
2023	Satou Sabally		Forward		Dallas Wings	37 out of 60	^[24]
2024	DiJonai Carrington		Guard		Connecticut Sun (5)	28 out of 67	^[25]

Notes

See also

• List of sports awards honoring women

References

• Web site: WNBA Most Improved Player Award. January 19, 2009 .

Notes and References

1. Web site: 2000 WNBA Season Awards . WNBA . September 26, 2024.
2. Web site: Houston's Arcain is 2001 Most Improved Player . WNBA . August 18, 2001 . September 26, 2024.
3. Web site: 2002 WNBA Season Awards . WNBA . September 26, 2024.
4. Web site: 2003 WNBA Season Awards . WNBA . September 26, 2024.
5. Web site: Connecticut's Wendy Palmer and Indiana's Kelly Miller Named Co-Recipients of 2004 WNBA Most Improved Player Award . WNBA . September 27, 2004 . September 26, 2024.
6. Web site: Sacramento's Nicole Powell Named 2005 WNBA Most Improved Player . WNBA . September 2, 2005 . September 26, 2024.
7. News: Buescher wins most improved player award . . August 19, 2006 . September 26, 2024.
8. Web site: New York's Janel McCarville Named 2007 WNBA Most Improved Player . WNBA . August 24, 2007 . September 26, 2024.
9. News: Hoffman easily wins WNBA's most improved award. . Associated Press . September 19, 2008 . September 26, 2024.
10. News: Langhorne receives most improved . . September 17, 2009 . September 26, 2024.
11. Web site: Leilani Mitchell Named 2010 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year Presented By Kia Motors . WNBA . August 26, 2010 . September 26, 2024.
12. News: Kia Vaughn wins most improved award . . Associated Press . September 17, 2011 . September 26, 2024.
13. News: Sparks' Toliver named WNBA Most Improved Player . ABC 10 . September 27, 2012 . September 26, 2024.
14. Web site: Shavonte Zellous Named 2013 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year . WNBA . September 22, 2013. September 26, 2024.
15. Skylar Diggins Named 2014 WNBA Most Improved Player . . August 27, 2014 . September 26, 2024.
16. Web site: Kelsey Bone Named 2015 WNBA Most Improved Player Presented By Samsung . WNBA . October 1, 2015 . September 26, 2024.
17. News: Elizabeth Williams named WNBA Most Improved Player . . September 21, 2016 . September 26, 2024.
18. Web site: Connecticut's Jonquel Jones Named 2017 WNBA Most Improved Player . WNBA . September 10, 2017 . September 25, 2024.
19. Storm’s Natasha Howard named 2018 WNBA Most Improved Player . NBA Communications . August 26, 2018 . September 25, 2024.
20. Web site: Leilani Mitchell Named 2019 WNBA Most Improved Player. wnba.com. WNBA. September 18, 2019. September 18, 2019.
21. News: Michael . Voepel . Michael Voepel . Dream's Betnijah Laney named WNBA's Most Improved Player . . September 24, 2020 . September 25, 2024.
22. Web site: Connecticut Sun Brionna Jones Named 2021 KIA Most Improved Player. wnba.com. WNBA. September 28, 2021. September 28, 2021.
23. Jackie Young Named 2022 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player. New York, NY. wnba.com. WNBA. August 29, 2022. August 29, 2022.
24. Dallas Wings' Satou Sabally Named 2023 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player . WNBA . September 21, 2023 . September 21, 2023.
25. News: Sun guard DiJonai Carrington wins WNBA Most Improved Player award . . Associated Press . September 25, 2024 . September 25, 2024.