The Women's National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 1998 WNBA season, to the top rookie 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(s) with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.

The 2003 award winner Cheryl Ford and 2011 award winner Maya Moore are the only players to win both the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and a WNBA championship in the same season.

The 2008 award winner Candace Parker became the first player to win the award after garnering all possible votes and also the first player to win the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award in the same season. In the NBA, only Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld have won the Most Valuable Player Award and Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.

The 2020 award winner Crystal Dangerfield is the first who was not chosen in the first round of the draft; she was chosen in the second round in 2020 as the 16th overall pick.

As of 2019, eight Rookie of the Year recipients have gone on to become a member of a WNBA championship team.

Winners +Key ^Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA *Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as playerInducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame†Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame considerationPlayer(in bold text)Denotes unanimous winners

+Rookie of the Year Season Player Position Nationality Team School Pick Year 1998 Tracy Reid Forward Charlotte Sting UNC (Sr.) 7 1998 1999 Chamique Holdsclaw* Washington Mystics Tennessee (Sr.) 1 1999 2000 Betty Lennox Guard Minnesota Lynx Louisiana Tech (Sr.) 6 2000 2001 Jackie Stiles Portland Fire Missouri State (Sr.) 4 2001 2002 Tamika Catchings* Forward Indiana Fever Tennessee (Sr.) 3 2001 2003 Cheryl Ford Detroit Shock Louisiana Tech (Sr.) 3 2003 2004Diana Taurasi† Guard Phoenix Mercury UConn (Sr.) 1 2004 2005 Temeka Johnson Washington Mystics (2) LSU (Sr.) 6 2005 2006 Seimone Augustus* Guard/Forward Minnesota Lynx (2) LSU (Sr.) 1 2006 2007 Armintie Price Guard Chicago Sky Ole Miss (Sr.) 3 2007 2008 Candace Parker* Forward/Center Los Angeles Sparks Tennessee (Jr.) 1 2008 2009 Angel McCoughtry† Forward Atlanta Dream Louisville (Sr.) 1 2009 2010 Tina Charles^ Center Connecticut Sun UConn (Sr.) 1 2010 2011 Maya Moore* Forward Minnesota Lynx (3) UConn (Sr.) 1 2011 2012 Nneka Ogwumike^ Los Angeles Sparks (2) Stanford (Sr.) 1 2012 2013 Elena Delle Donne* Guard/Forward Chicago Sky (2) Delaware (Sr.) 2 2013 2014 Chiney Ogwumike† Forward Connecticut Sun (2) Stanford (Sr.) 1 2014 2015 Jewell Loyd^ Guard Seattle Storm Notre Dame (Jr.) 1 2015 2016 Breanna Stewart^ Forward/Center Seattle Storm (2) UConn (Sr.) 1 2016 2017 Allisha Gray^ Guard Dallas Wings (2) South Carolina (Jr.) 4 2017 2018 A'ja Wilson^ Forward Las Vegas Aces South Carolina (Sr.) 1 2018 2019 Napheesa Collier^ Minnesota Lynx (4) UConn (Sr.) 6 2019 2020 Crystal Dangerfield^ Guard Minnesota Lynx (5) UConn (Sr.) 16 2020 2021 Michaela Onyenwere^ Forward New York Liberty UCLA (Sr.) 6 2021 2022 Rhyne Howard^ Guard Atlanta Dream (2) Kentucky (Sr.) 1 2022 2023 Aliyah Boston^ Forward/Center Indiana Fever (2) South Carolina (Sr.) 1 2023 2024 Caitlin Clark^Guard Indiana Fever (3) Iowa (Sr.) 1 2024 2025 Paige Bueckers^ Dallas Wings (3)UConn (Sr.) 1 2025 2026 Olivia Miles^ Minnesota Lynx (6)TCU (Sr.) 2 2026

Teams

Awards Teams Years5 Minnesota Lynx , , , , 3 Indiana Fever , , Dallas Wings / Tulsa Shock / Detroit Shock (as Detroit), (as Dallas)2 Washington Mystics , Chicago Sky , Los Angeles Sparks , Atlanta Dream , Connecticut Sun / Orlando Miracle , (as Connecticut) Seattle Storm , 1 Charlotte Sting Portland Fire Phoenix Mercury Las Vegas Aces / San Antonio Stars /San Antonio Silver Stars / Utah Starzz (as Las Vegas) New York Liberty 0 Cleveland RockersN/A Houston Comets Miami Sol Sacramento Monarchs

See also List of sports awards honoring women

Notes

References

External links