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 Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame Denotes player whose team won championship that yearPlayer (X)Denotes the number of times the player has wonTeam (X)Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
Season Player Position Nationality Team First-Place Votes Ref. 2000 Tari Phillips 2 Forward / Center New York Liberty 19 out of 62 2001 Janeth Arcain 5 Guard Houston Comets 25 out of 60 2002 Coco Miller 2 Washington Mystics 14 out of 60 2003 Michelle Snow Forward / Center Houston Comets (2) 22 out of 53 2004 Kelly Miller 4 Guard Indiana Fever 9 out of 48 (tie) Wendy Palmer 8 Forward Connecticut Sun 2005 Nicole Powell 2 Sacramento Monarchs 20 out of 49 2006 Erin Buescher 5 Sacramento Monarchs (2) 28 out of 56 2007 Janel McCarville 3 Center New York Liberty (2) 33 out of 51 2008 Ebony Hoffman 5 Forward Indiana Fever (2) 31 out of 44 2009 Crystal Langhorne 2 Washington Mystics (2) 19 out of 40 2010 Leilani Mitchell 3 Guard New York Liberty (3) 29 out of 39 2011 Kia Vaughn Center New York Liberty (4) 15 out of 40 2012 Kristi Toliver 4Guard Los Angeles Sparks 24 out of 41 2013 Shavonte Zellous 5 Indiana Fever (3) 30 out of 39 2014 Skylar Diggins 2 Tulsa Shock 29 out of 38 2015 Kelsey Bone 3 Center Connecticut Sun (2) 14 out of 39 2016 Elizabeth Williams 2 Forward / Center Atlanta Dream 14 out of 39 2017 Jonquel Jones Connecticut Sun (3) 32 out of 40 2018 Natasha Howard 5 Forward Seattle Storm 29 out of 39 2019 Leilani Mitchell (2) 11 Guard Phoenix Mercury 27 out of 43 2020 Betnijah Laney 5 Forward / Guard Atlanta Dream (2) 25 out of 47 2021 Brionna Jones Forward Connecticut Sun (4) 38 out of 49 2022 Jackie Young 4 Guard Las Vegas Aces 32 out of 56 2023 Satou Sabally Forward Dallas Wings 37 out of 60 2024 DiJonai Carrington Guard Connecticut Sun (5) 28 out of 67 2025 Veronica Burton Golden State Valkyries 68 out of 72 2026 Jessica Shepard 6 Forward Dallas Wings (3) 29 out of 74 Notes
Multi-time winners AwardsPlayerTeam(s)Years2Leilani MitchellNew York Liberty (1) / Phoenix Mercury (1)2010, 2019
See also List of sports awards honoring women
References