1st Annual Evolution Awards

If you’ve followed me for any amount of time you may notice that I am a huge WNBA fan. I’ve stated before that my love of this game started with Candace Parker, was cemented by Maya Moore, and my love and appreciation of the league has only grown ever since. I also consider myself an ally and advocate for the league. I’d imagine that a straight white male from the middle of West Virginia isn’t exactly the core demographic of the league, and I also know that in a male dominated space, women’s basketball isn’t looked at very favorably. To be clear, I think that the people who don’t watch, don’t appreciate, and look down on this league are at best missing out, and are at worst ignorant and detrimental. I do have my downfalls as a fan, though.

Although I’ve been a fan of the league for nearly 20 years (my knees cracked while typing that sentence), I’ve only been ultra vocal about it over the last few years. It wasn’t until this year that I made videos on my YouTube channel previewing each team in the W this season. Now is another first for me, as I’m committing to my fandom and putting in stone (or in this case on your phone screen) my opinions for who I think deserves to walk away with some hardware for their hard work this year. I’ve kept a list of my selections over the last three years of me being a “content creator” but now the masses (all 10 of you who will click the link) will get to see how I really feel about these players. You may have noticed that I have written three of these same kinds of awards for the NBA, and if you haven’t read them before I encourage you to search “Hooper’s Choice Awards” on this site to get familiar with my thought process and method in determining who walks away with these “honors.”

To evolve is to overcome, adapt, and progress. The Evolution Awards were created for the furtherance, the development, and the continued appreciation of this incredible game.

The Pat Summitt Coach of the Year Award

Without exaggeration or hyperbole, Pat Summitt is one of the greatest basketball coaches of all-time at any level of this game. It’s no shock to anyone who is even remotely familiar with the women’s game that she left a lasting impact on the game and many of its players. Much like the fictional counterpart for my NBA awards Coach Carter, Coach Summitt showed what it meant to be part of something bigger than yourself, and to outperform even your wildest expectations.

In the 2025 WNBA season I selected Natalie Nakase from the Golden State Valkyries to win this award, and she absolutely deserved it. NO ONE expected an expansion team to have a positive record, much less steal a playoff spot. Sure, they didn’t win a game in the playoffs but the Minnesota Lynx were (and still are) a behemoth so I can’t really blame them.

This year I think that a lot of people expected them to have a steady climb, maybe secure a 6th seed, and be competitive in the playoffs. What I don’t think anyone expected was for this team to go 32-12 and be the 2nd best team in the league record wise. Yes, the addition of Gabby Williams certianly helps, and the continued growth of Veronica Burton, and the stellar season that Janelle Salaun had is part of the equation as well, but Natalie Nakase has proven time and time again that she knows how to get the best out of her players, and will find success no matter what is handed to her. I don’t think that the Valkyries will win the WNBA Championship this year, but I do think it’s just a matter of time before she and the Valkyries hoist up the trophy.

2nd: Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx

3rd: Jose Fernandez, Dallas Wings

The Up NXT Award

The Up NXT Award is for someone who showed this year that they have a real chance to take a huge leap next year. Dominique Malonga is a player that has been on player’s radar for quite some time. I mean, you don’t get called “The Wemby of the W” for no reason. I had her in my Top 3 for last year’s award, but this year she’s shown me AGAIN that she can take an even bigger leap.

Now if you didn’t watch many Seattle Storm games this year, I can’t say I blame you, but I will say that you missed out on A LOT. In the midst of the 36 losses, we witnessed Dom take a huge step in her game, adding 10 PPG to her stat line, doubling her block and steal count, and nearly doubling her rebounding efforts. I won’t say that she’ll be able to do that next year, but what I will say that all of this improvement is almost unheard of from a 20 year old. In what will be her 3rd season next year, I think that she’ll have a real opportunity to show that she can be one of the best bigs in the league. A’ja Wilson firmly has her hands on that title as of right now, but I think that sooner rather than later we’ll be talking about Dominique Malonga being one of, if not THE, best player in the league.

2nd: Shakira Austin, Washington Mystics

3rd: Bridget Carleton, Portland Fire

The New Kid on the Block Award

The New Kid on the Block Award is one of the very few awards this year that isn’t really a competition. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of talented rookies in this class, but there is one that stands out from the rest and is a runaway winner of the hardware this year.

Olivia Miles has come into this league and done what many have tried and failed to do; astonish and amaze. Nearly 20 points a game as a rookie, 6 assists a game, 4.7 boards, and 1.3 steals a night as well. The counting stats look incredible, the shooting splits are great as well (49/38/87), but the way that she’s been able to come into this league, make some matchups look like light work, AND lead this Minnesota Lynx squad who’s been without MVP and DPOY candidate Napheesa Collier for most of the season to THE BEST RECORD IN THE LEAUGE is unparalleled stuff. She’s also broken damn near every rookie record there is to break including scoring and playmaking. She has firmly planted herself in MVP conversations, so it goes without saying that she is head and shoulders above the rest of her class, and is the only choice for this award.

2nd: Flau’jae Johnson, Seattle Storm

3rd: Kiki Rice, Toronto Tempo

The Super 6 Award

As big of a fan as I am of Chennedy Carter, at the point that she was waived by the Las Vegas Aces, this race was also a done deal. I still think that Janelle Salaun would have won without Carter being waived, but now it’s no debate. Salaun was an intregal part of this Valkyries team this year, and even though she was a starter last year, she’s accepted the bench role on this team and made the bench unit her own. 509 points on the season, 12.7 points a night, she also shot 39% from deep on nearly 6 attempts a game.

Schematically, Gabby Williams is the ideal fit in the starting lineup and I don’t think that should be very controversial. What I do think may be controversial is saying that without Janelle Salaun, I don’t think that this Valkyries team would be in the position that they’re in, and have such a good chance at winning the WNBA Championship.

2nd: Cameron Brink, Los Angeles Sparks

3rd: Tiffany Hayes, Golden State Valkyries

The Lockdown Award

For most of the season, this wasn’t a very controversial statement, but over the last few weeks it has become very contentious. I will not be swayed. The Lockdown Award for the 2026 season goes to Angel Reese. Those who have been watching her game for her entire career know that she’s been a criminally underrated defender. Now that the lights are as bright as they’ve ever been for her, she has shown up time and time again.

The Atlanta Dream have two players in their backcourt who are tenacious defenders in their own right in Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada, but Angel Reese has been a true difference maker at her position, and has been THE reason that the Dream have won many close games this year. I could go on and on about her offensive production and improvement this year, but she’s leveled up as a defender as well. The rebounding numbers are still there with 12.1 per game, but that is the lowest amount for a season in her young career. She’s having a “down” year at the thing that she is known for is and still impacting the game. She has a defensive rating of 100, and rebounding percentage of 23.5%, leads the league in defensive win shares with 3.4, top 3 in steals per game (only being beaten by her aforementioned defensive demon teammates), and has the intangibles needed to win you a game on the defensive end when you need it the most.

This is just the beginning for Angel Reese and her ascension as one of the best in the league, and if you’re still not on the right side of history on her as a basketball player, I’m not sure you ever will be.

2nd: Kiah Stokes, Golden State Valkyries

3rd: Shakira Austin, Washington Mystics

The Athena Award

I’ve stated many times throughout my life that there are different kinds of defending. You need players like Angel Reese, Kiah Stokes, Shakira Austin, and A’ja Wilson that will grab rebounds and block shots, but you also need defenders that will pick you up 94 feet, play the passing lanes, and contest your jump shots. There are plenty of those in this league but there are none better than a now 2x winner in my books, Gabby Williams.

The stats speak for themselves: 1.6 steals a game, a 99 defensive rating, a 3.5% steal percentage, and a 2.6 defensive win share. When she’s on the floor she makes some of the best shot makers in league history look like somebody at the YMCA. Calling her a defensive nightmare doesn’t even really do it justice because her impact is measured way beyond the box score. The Valkyries were fun last year, but now? They are DOMINATING. Again, I’m not sure that they have the offensive fire power to win the title this year, but their defensive pressure is enough to make anyone in this league crack. The Valkyries defense is something that has been talked about all year long, and may very well be studied at some point, and Gabby Williams is the head of that snake.

2nd: Rhyne Howard, Atlanta Dream

3rd: Veronica Burton, Golden State Valkyries

The Bottom of the Net Award

This is arguably my favorite award to dive into, because there is no bias on my part. This entire award is data and stat driven. I’ve maintained that a MVP is not always the best offensive player and vice versa. Sometimes they overlap, but not always.

If you’re familiar with the NBA’s counterpart in my awards, the formual is slightly different for the W based on available data. So the W’s formual is as follows:

(PRA + Offensive Rating + True Shooting % + Offensive Win Share) / 4

Now that you’re familiar with the method, there should be no madness in your mind about the fact that A’ja Wilson has walked away with ANOTHER award which is the 3rd in her career. If this piece does well I’ll release the entire history of this award, so please let me know if you’d be interested.

Over 26 points per game, 9.4 rebounds a game, hyper efficient from the floor, just the A’ja Wilson Special, or what is now being turned into the A’ja Wilson Regular.

2nd: Kelsey Mitchell, Indiana Fever

3rd: Jessica Shepard, Dallas Wings

The Queen of the Court Award

For every single reason that I mentioned above in the Bottom of the Net Award, you can copy and paste here for A’ja Wilson. I’ve kept track of my personal awards for three years and A’ja Wilson has been synonymous with the Queen of the Court Award for all three years. There is NO ONE that is on her level right now, and while Kelsey Mitchell in particular gave it one hell of a go, there’s A’ja, and then there’s everyone else.

The Aces had another very strong year winning 31 games, and while “The Point Gawd” Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young are still playing at an incredible level, this team lives and breathes with what A’ja Wilson produces, and thankfully for them she produced another MVP caliber season. If she somehow doesn’t walk away with her 5th WNBA MVP award, I think that the league and all of the voters need to be investigated because this award has been locked up for quite some time, and at this rate I don’t know when her reign of dominance will ever stop. What I do know is that I will be appreciating it as long as I can.