GOAT is starting to become an understatement. A’ja Wilson was named the 2026 WNBA Most Valuable Player last night, her fifth time receiving the award, her third consecutive, and her fourth in five years. Not only does this feat make her the first player in the W to receive such an accomplishment, but it makes her only the third across both the NBA and WNBA—alongside Bill Russell and Michael Jordan.
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The 2024 EBONY Power 100 Honoree also earned the ESPY Awards for Best WNBA Player and Best Female Athlete, and the BET Award for Sportswoman of the Year earlier this year, adding to her ever-expanding trophy shelf. Wilson is currently on the reigning WNBA champion Las Vegas Aces, where she has averaged 26.2 points per game in the regular season. Wilson—alongside team captain Chelsea Gray—has led her team to the WNBA Playoffs semifinals, with Game 3 against the Golden State Valkyries slated for tonight.
After WNBA players solidified a historic Collective Bargaining Agreement before the 2026 season started, this fifth MVP award only strengthens the argument for the value of women’s sports. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar is the only player in NBA history to have won more MVPs, with six. A’ja Wilson has said she’s focused on winning another championship in the rest of this series, but she’s also got her sights set on that sixth MVP. With the WNBA at historical heights and a track record like hers, history-making on that level seems undeniable, inevitable, even.