WNBA Most Improved Player Award

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

Season Player Position Nationality Team 2000 Tari Phillips Forward / Center  United States New York Liberty 2001 Janeth Arcain Guard  Brazil Houston Comets 2002 Coco Miller Guard  United States Washington Mystics 2003 Michelle Snow Forward / Center  United States Houston Comets (2) 2004 Kelly Miller Guard  United States Indiana Fever Wendy Palmer Forward  United States Connecticut Sun 2005 Nicole Powell Forward  United States Sacramento Monarchs 2006 Erin Buescher Forward  United States Sacramento Monarchs (2) 2007 Janel McCarville Center  United States New York Liberty (2) 2008 Ebony Hoffman Forward  United States Indiana Fever (2) 2009 Crystal Langhorne Forward  United States Washington Mystics (2) 2010 Leilani Mitchell Guard  Australia[a] New York Liberty (3) 2011 Kia Vaughn Center  United States[b] New York Liberty (4) 2012 Kristi Toliver Guard  United States[c] Los Angeles Sparks 2013 Shavonte Zellous Guard  United States[d] Indiana Fever (3) 2014 Skylar Diggins-Smith Guard  United States Tulsa Shock 2015 Kelsey Bone Center  United States Connecticut Sun (2) 2016 Elizabeth Williams Forward / Center  United States[e] Atlanta Dream 2017 Jonquel Jones Forward / Center  Bahamas[f] Connecticut Sun (3) 2018 Natasha Howard Forward  United States Seattle Storm 2019 Leilani Mitchell (2) Guard[6]  Australia[a] Phoenix Mercury 2020 Betnijah Laney Forward/guard[7]  United States Atlanta Dream 2021 Brionna Jones Forward[8]  United States Connecticut Sun 2022 Jackie Young Guard[9]  United States Las Vegas Aces 2023 Satou Sabally Forward[10]  Germany[g] Dallas Wings Notes ^ a b Leilani Mitchell was born as a dual citizen of the United States and Australia. She represents Australia internationally.[1] ^ Kia Vaughn was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of the Czech Republic. She has represented the Czech Republic internationally since 2017. ^ Kristi Toliver was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of Slovakia. She has represented Slovakia internationally since 2014.[2] ^ Shavonte Zellous was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of Croatia. She has represented Croatia internationally since 2015.[3] ^ Elizabeth Williams was born in the United Kingdom and is a naturalized citizen of the United States. She has represented the United States internationally since 2009.[4] ^ Jonquel Jones was born in the Bahamas and is a naturalized citizen of Bosnia and Herzegovina. She has represented Bosnia and Herzegovina internationally since 2019.[5] ^ Satou Sabally was born in the United States to Gambian and German parents, and is a citizen by birth of all three countries. She represents Germany internationally.[11] See also List of sports awards honoring women References "WNBA Most Improved Player Award". Retrieved January 19, 2009. ^ FIBA World Championship for Women. Joyce thrilled to get Mitchell on board.Retrieved 2014-04-18 ^ Washington Post. [1].Retrieved 2019-11-24 ^ Indianapolis Star. [2].Retrieved 2019-11-24 ^ USA Basketball. [3].Retrieved 2019-11-24 ^ Nassau Guardian. [4].Retrieved 2019-11-24 ^ "Leilani Mitchell Named 2019 WNBA Most Improved Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 18, 2019. ^ "Crystal Dangerfield Named WNBA Rookie Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 17, 2020. Retrieved September 18, 2020. ^ "Connecticut Sun Brionna Jones Named 2021 KIA Most Improved Player". wnba.com. WNBA. September 28, 2021. Retrieved September 28, 2021. ^ "Jackie Young Named 2022 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player". wnba.com (Press release). New York, NY: WNBA. August 29, 2022. Retrieved August 29, 2022. ^ "Dallas Wings' Satou Sabally Named 2023 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player" (Press release). WNBA. September 21, 2023. Retrieved September 21, 2023. ^ Ayala, Erica (August 27, 2020). "Satou Sabally Is a Unicorn". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved August 27, 2020.