Jenn Hatfield’s official WNBA end-of-year awards ballot
This year, I was asked to vote for the WNBA’s end-of-year awards as a member of the media. Just as my 2019 WNBA All-Star picks included some difficult decisions and close calls, it was extremely difficult to pick just one winner for awards like Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and Most Improved Player. In this article, I reveal my full ballot, explain my selections, and share which candidates came up just short.
One note before we get started: unlike my All-Star ballot, I did not disqualify players for off-the-court incidents. With the exception of the Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award, I evaluated players based solely on their on-court production.
Without further ado, let’s go through the ballot in order, starting with Coach of the Year and finishing with the All-WNBA First and Second Teams.
Coach of the Year: Mike Thibault, Washington Mystics
Washington brought back almost everyone from last year’s run to the WNBA Finals, but that didn’t mean that it would be easy for them to “run it back.” So far, though, the Mystics have made it look relatively easy, leading the league with a 26–8 record and an eye-popping 115.9 offensive rating. Thibault’s lineup decisions have been a big reason why.
When the Mystics have been healthy, Thibault’s biggest challenge has been getting everyone minutes and shots. Nine players average at least 15 minutes per game and seven average at least 9 points per game. Thibault has also deftly handled injuries and absences. Kristi Toliver (11 games missed), Elena Delle Donne (3 games and all but the first minute of a fourth), Emma Meesseman (11), and Aerial Powers (4) have all missed at least 10% of the Mystics’ games this year due to injury or EuroBasket. But whether it’s tapping Powers to fill Toliver’s starting spot, bringing Meesseman off the bench for most of the season to make EuroBasket less disruptive, or rolling out a three-big lineup late in the year, Thibault has seemingly had all the right answers.
Apologies to: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx*; James Wade, Chicago Sky.
*Media do not vote for Executive of the Year, but Reeve would be my choice for that award based on the trades, free agent signings, and draft picks she executed before and during the 2019 season.
Defensive Player of the Year: Natasha Howard, Seattle Storm
Howard, a 6–2 forward and the 2018 WNBA Most Improved Player, ranks second in the league in steals per game, third in blocks per game, and 11th in defensive rebounds per game. That makes her the first player to rank in the top three in steals and blocks since Yolanda Griffith in 1999. Howard also leads the league with 0.179 defensive win shares.
Apologies to: None. Howard ran away with this award, in my estimation.
Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award: Candice Dupree, Indiana Fever
For this award, each WNBA team nominates one player and the media vote among only those 12 players. Dupree is a veteran player who seems to have the universal respect of her peers, and she is always poised despite three straight losing seasons in Indiana. Instead, she led a very young Fever team on and off the court this year in a way that would make three-time winner and former Fever star Tamika Catchings proud.
Apologies to: Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles; Latoya Sanders, Washington Mystics.
Most Improved Player of the Year: Mercedes Russell, Seattle Storm
In 2018, Russell made zero starts and averaged just 5.5 minutes per game. In 2019, she started 30 games and averaged 25.6 minutes per game. Put another way, Russell played more minutes through seven games this season than she did all of last year, including the playoffs. She made the most of those added opportunities, averaging 7.5 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 1.1 steals while shooting 52% from the field this season. Her advanced statistics further demonstrate that she has improved on both ends of the court: her offensive rating skyrocketed from 96 to 112 and her defensive rating dropped from 104 to 99. (Those metrics measure points scored or allowed per 100 possessions, so a lower number is better on defense.) Along with fellow second-year player Jordin Canada, she has been a huge reason that Seattle managed to make the playoffs this season without stars Breanna Stewart and Sue Bird.
Apologies to: Leilani Mitchell, Phoenix Mercury; Aerial Powers, Washington Mystics.
WNBA Most Valuable Player: Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics
Delle Donne ensured that WNBA basketball fans didn’t have to debate whether the MVP award should go to the best player on the best team or to the overall top player in the league, even if she played on a non-playoff team. Delle Donne is the top player in the league (at least to “anyone with eyes,” according to her teammate Natasha Cloud), and she is also the best player on the best team. Delle Donne averaged 19.5 points, 8.3 rebounds, 2.2 assists, and 1.3 blocks in 29 minutes per game this season. She also became the first player in league history to shoot 50% from the field, 40% from 3-point range, and 90% from the free throw line for an entire season (minimum 100/25/50 makes).
The Mystics have had an amazing season that has required contributions throughout the lineup, but it’s clear that Delle Donne has an outsized impact. With her on the court, the Mystics scored nearly 13 more points per 100 possessions and allowed 5 fewer points per 100 possessions than when she was off the court. In three games that Delle Donne missed, plus one that she left in the first minute after breaking her nose, the Mystics went 0–4. With Delle Donne able to play, they were 26–4. Perhaps her teammate Ariel Atkins said it best after the team’s regular-season finale: “She’s Elena Delle Donne. When you hear that name, it’s a household name for a reason.”
Apologies to: While Delle Donne was an easy pick for me, media members are asked to vote for our top five MVP candidates. In order, my second through fifth picks were Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun; Natasha Howard, Seattle Storm; Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky; and Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks.
Rookie of the Year: Arike Ogunbowale, Dallas Wings
This category seems to have garnered the most attention because of the two headline candidates, Ogunbowale and Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier. I would be happiest if the league named them Co-Rookies of the Year, but I could only pick one and selected Ogunbowale by the slimmest of margins.
Ogunbowale averaged 19.1 points, 3.2 assists, 2.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game while shooting 39% from the field and 35% from 3-point range. She used over 30% of Dallas’ possessions, which shows how dependent Dallas was on her for offense, yet she turned the ball over less than 10% of the time. That’s a sterling number for any player, let alone a rookie who regularly faced double-teams and traps. She also assisted on over 22% of her teammates’ baskets while she was on the floor.
Collier played a less outsized role on a playoff-bound Minnesota team but absolutely stuffed the stat sheet. She averaged 13.1 points, 6.6 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.9 blocks per game while shooting 49% from the floor and 36% from 3-point range. She had an 18.5 player efficiency rating, slightly above the league average of 15.0. She also contributed on the defensive end, notching 2.4 defensive win shares. Perhaps the clearest indication of her impact is this: Minnesota outscored opponents by 6.5 points per 100 possessions with her on the court, but without her, Minnesota was outscored by 10.2 points per 100 possessions.
The most common argument I’ve seen written and tweeted is that this choice comes down to a volume scorer in Ogunbowale versus a player who is as versatile as they come in Collier. To some extent, that’s true, but I think it sells Ogunbowale short. Collier has been widely praised for transitioning from power forward to small forward — as she should be! — but Ogunbowale hasn’t been given nearly as much credit for her own position change. Ogunbowale was primarily a shooting guard in college, but ran the point for Dallas in Skylar Diggins-Smith’s absence. Not only that, but she led her team in both scoring and assists, just a year after her 2017–18 assist rate of 13.6% raised questions about whether she was a good enough passer to succeed in the WNBA.
Also, don’t discount how much Dallas needed Ogunbowale this season. Her 19 points per game represented 27% of Dallas’s total scoring, as the Wings’ offense ranked 11th in the WNBA at 71.6 points per game. Ogunbowale was her team’s primary offensive option every night, which made her main focus of opposing coaches’ game plans and scouting reports. She consistently drew the opponent’s toughest defender and faced double-teams, traps, and box-and-one defenses. Yet she still managed to post historic offensive numbers: she scored the third-most points of any rookie in history, ranks second all-time in 20-point games by a rookie, and is the only rookie ever to score 35 points in multiple games. Collier, for all her brilliance, has simply not had to carry nearly as much of a load because she has had more help from All-Stars Sylvia Fowles and Odyssey Sims.
Apologies to: Collier; Teaira McCowan, Indiana Fever.
Sixth Woman of the Year: Dearica Hamby, Las Vegas Aces
This race was just as tight as the Rookie of the Year race, but without nearly as much hype. My top three candidates were Hamby, Washington Mystics forward Tianna Hawkins, and Mystics guard Aerial Powers. (Truthfully, Washington’s Emma Meesseman should be considered a strong candidate too, although she did miss 11 games due to EuroBasket. I would approve if the WNBA decided to give the award to the entire Mystics “bench mob,” as they call themselves.)
Hawkins and Powers both averaged over 20 points per 40 minutes for a Washington Mystics team that set at least a half dozen records on offense this season. However, there’s no denying the all-around impact Hamby has had for the Aces, whether coming off the bench or starting 9 games in place of an injured A’ja Wilson. Many people even thought that Hamby should have been an All-Star for an Aces team that had the best record in the WNBA through July 12 (10–5). She averaged 11.0 points, 7.6 rebounds, 1.9 assists, and 1.0 steals for the Aces in 24.8 minutes per game this season, and the Aces are over 10 points per 100 possessions better when she is on the court than when she is not. (That net rating is the highest on the team and more than double that of star center Liz Cambage.)
Apologies to: Hawkins; Powers.
Finally, I selected 10 players for the two All-WNBA teams. Voters were required to vote for two guards, two forwards, and one center per team based on the positions at which those players are starters. (In other words, no “creative” lineups with Delle Donne running the point, though I’m sure she could do it if she was asked to!)
All-WNBA First Team
F — Elena Delle Donne, Washington Mystics
F — Natasha Howard, Seattle Storm
C — Jonquel Jones, Connecticut Sun
G — Courtney Vandersloot, Chicago Sky
G — Chelsea Gray, Los Angeles Sparks
All-WNBA Second Team
F — Nneka Ogwumike, Los Angeles Sparks
F — A’ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
C — Brittney Griner, Phoenix Mercury
G — Natasha Cloud, Washington Mystics
G — Diamond DeShields, Chicago Sky
Apologies to: Liz Cambage, Las Vegas Aces; Tina Charles, New York Liberty; Sylvia Fowles, Minnesota Lynx; Odyssey Sims, Minnesota Lynx; Jasmine Thomas, Connecticut Sun.
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