2024 WNBA Awards Discussion Thread

[Doctor MJ]

With roughly half the games played for the WNBA season I'd like to start having conversations about the wards with the intent to vote on this AFTER the playoffs to decide our award winners for the season as a whole.

The biggie is MVP/POY. MVP is the official regular season award - POY is what we've called it factoring in the post-season
From there we have:

Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY) - just the offensive version of...
Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY)
Rookie of the Year (ROY)
Most Improved Player (MIP)
Sixth Woman of the Year (6WOY)
Coach of the Year (COY)
Executive of the Year (EOY)

If you want to have a vote, just participate in this thread productively.

What do I mean by productively? Be nice. Be respectful. Don't turn it into the NBA-style pissing matches, because aside from that's annoying, we're trying to build up a community here...so it better be fun to be here.

Feel free to chime on anything Awards related here, I'm going to lead it off in a second with a couple questions.

[Doctor MJ]

1st Question: What do you make of A'ja Wilson's insane production this year on a less effective (and injured) Aces team?

A'ja already wore the crown as the consensus best player in the league going into this season, and here scoring going up let's us see the possibility of an even more A'ja-centric team than we already have. Is that direction they should go?

However, from an On-Off perspective, the team's offense is currently putting up better ORtg numbers without A'ja than with her. Is there something specifically problematic about the Aces playing this way?

[Doctor MJ]

This one's for you

.

:

Right now, nobody is doing more winning when she's on the court than Benijah Laney.

She leads the league in raw +/-.
She towers above teammates in both Overall On-Off (+23.4) and Defensive On-Off (-13.3)

Despite this, she wasn't chosen as an all-star while teammates Stewie, Jonquel & Sabrina were.

How impressive is Benijah Laney?
How would you describe what makes her great?
Should she have been named all-star?
Does she deserve consideration for other awards, like say, DPOY?

For those interested, here's an article from earlier this year:
BETNIJAH LANEY-HAMILTON: THE IDENTITY OF THE NEW YORK LIBERTY

[MrDollarBills]

This one's for you

.

:

Right now, nobody is doing more winning when she's on the court than Benijah Laney.

She leads the league in raw +/-.
She towers above teammates in both Overall On-Off (+23.4) and Defensive On-Off (-13.3)

Despite this, she wasn't chosen as an all-star while teammates Stewie, Jonquel & Sabrina were.

How impressive is Benijah Laney?
How would you describe what makes her great?
Should she have been named all-star?
Does she deserve consideration for other awards, like say, DPOY?

For those interested, here's an article from earlier this year:
BETNIJAH LANEY-HAMILTON: THE IDENTITY OF THE NEW YORK LIBERTY

Betnijah is the glue girl of the Liberty.

You need someone to space?

You need someone to check the toughest perimeter match up?

You need someone to get in there with Stewie and Jonquel to battle for boards?

You need a tough bucket when they play breaks down?

She's your player.

Now, while I think it's high time that Betnijah receives an all star nod, she's always going to be overshadowed by the Big 3 of Stewie, JJ, and Sab. So unfortunately I don't see that happening....but that's nothing to be ashamed of for Mrs. Lainey-Hamilton. She may not be the flashy name, but she is the best overall player on a star studded team.

As you can already tell, she's my favorite player on the team. She's tougher than steel and is an absolute physical defender and I think she deserves votes for DPOY.

She's the definition of a two way wing.

[MrDollarBills]

1st Question: What do you make of A'ja Wilson's insane production this year on a less effective (and injured) Aces team?

A'ja already wore the crown as the consensus best player in the league going into this season, and here scoring going up let's us see the possibility of an even more A'ja-centric team than we already have. Is that direction they should go?

However, from an On-Off perspective, the team's offense is currently putting up better ORtg numbers without A'ja than with her. Is there something specifically problematic about the Aces playing this way?

This is a good question. I can't point to anything in particular that can explain why there's a disparity with her on and off. When she's on, she is flat out dominant on both ends. It's something I will keep an eye on from now on. Maybe the ball moves more when she's off?

I think the real issue with the Aces is that Chelsea Gray is still working her way back tbh. To me, she's their deadliest player and is the engine that makes them the two time champions.

[Ghetto Gospel]

for what it's worth, ESPN released their mid-season favorites

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/40484035/wnba-2024-awards-tracker-mvp-rookie-year-coach-all-league-first-team

[Doctor MJ]

for what it's worth, ESPN released their mid-season favorites

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/40484035/wnba-2024-awards-tracker-mvp-rookie-year-coach-all-league-first-team

Thanks for sharing GG! Hope you take part in the conversation!

So to summarize what they say:

MVP - A'ja (Collier, Stewie, AT)
ROY - Clark (Reese)
COY - Reeve (Quinn, Brondello)
DPOY - Collier (A'ja, Ezi, AT)
6POY - Carter (Hayes, Fagbenle)
MIP - Carrington (Smith, Carter, Siegrist)

[Ghetto Gospel]

1st Question: What do you make of A'ja Wilson's insane production this year on a less effective (and injured) Aces team?

A'ja already wore the crown as the consensus best player in the league going into this season, and here scoring going up let's us see the possibility of an even more A'ja-centric team than we already have. Is that direction they should go?

However, from an On-Off perspective, the team's offense is currently putting up better ORtg numbers without A'ja than with her. Is there something specifically problematic about the Aces playing this way?

1st Question: from what i've seen of aces games, it looks like a'ja wilson was producing especially early in the year because i think she had to. chelsea gray missed a ton of games, jackie young missed a few games, not to mention both jackie young and kelsey plum struggled quite a bit with their shot to start the season. i think a'ja felt like she needed to carry the burden and she did. i would imagine when their guards get back into form, everything will stabilize for the aces and her numbers will go down but still be great.

the on/off numbers are strange though because she really does look dominant on both ends when she's on the court. it's really inexplicable

[Ghetto Gospel]

for what it's worth, ESPN released their mid-season favorites

https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/40484035/wnba-2024-awards-tracker-mvp-rookie-year-coach-all-league-first-team

Thanks for sharing GG! Hope you take part in the conversation!

So to summarize what they say:

MVP - A'ja (Collier, Stewie, AT)
ROY - Clark (Reese)
COY - Reeve (Quinn, Brondello)
DPOY - Collier (A'ja, Ezi, AT)
6POY - Carter (Hayes, Fagbenle)
MIP - Carrington (Smith, Carter, Siegrist)

this is how i have it so far:

MVP - A'ja
ROY - Clark
COY - Reeve
DPOY - A'ja
6POY - Carter
MIP - Carter

i think ESPN maybe didn't want a singular player to be represented with more than 1 award or maybe there's some voter fatigue with regards to the DPOY with A'ja though imo napheesa isn't a terrible choice. i think chennedy carter is deserving of both 6poy and mip, though she might be ineligible for the 6poy by the end of the year.

[JustBuzzin]

ROTY is closer than I expected. Reese is a double/double threat and if I'm not mistaken she is at the top of the league in rebounds per game.

Should be interesting to see who wins that ROTY. It might be a split.

[MrDollarBills]

Reese right now is leading for ROTY imo.

[cdubbz]

In order to stop the race wars that follows the ROTY award - WNBA should be thinking strongly of co-ROTY and avoid the vote.


Too much extra non hoops conversations being had on social media & some sports heads.

It’s so close I don’t think it would be bad unless one of them breaks away.

[jc23]

In order to stop the race wars that follows the ROTY award - WNBA should be thinking strongly of co-ROTY and avoid the vote.


Too much extra non hoops conversations being had on social media & some sports heads.

It’s so close I don’t think it would be bad unless one of them breaks away.

best rookie gets the award; if its a Grant Hill and Jason Kidd situation so be it, but vote on it.

[Ghetto Gospel]

In order to stop the race wars that follows the ROTY award - WNBA should be thinking strongly of co-ROTY and avoid the vote.


Too much extra non hoops conversations being had on social media & some sports heads.

It’s so close I don’t think it would be bad unless one of them breaks away.

there was no race war in the NBA with regards to jokic and embiid. this sets a really bad precedent.

we going to do this in the future as well for MVP if caitlin clark becomes a high level player?

[cdubbz]

In order to stop the race wars that follows the ROTY award - WNBA should be thinking strongly of co-ROTY and avoid the vote.


Too much extra non hoops conversations being had on social media & some sports heads.

It’s so close I don’t think it would be bad unless one of them breaks away.

there was no race war in the NBA with regards to jokic and embiid. this sets a really bad precedent.

we going to do this in the future as well for MVP if caitlin clark becomes a high level player?

Perkins was on ESPN talking about white MVPs & Black MVPs. JJ Redick responded to his awful take and said it was about basketball.

Guess what - voters CAN BE BIASED! If you're on Twitter you see it. I don't know who has vote power in the WNBA though.

[cdubbz]

In order to stop the race wars that follows the ROTY award - WNBA should be thinking strongly of co-ROTY and avoid the vote.


Too much extra non hoops conversations being had on social media & some sports heads.

It’s so close I don’t think it would be bad unless one of them breaks away.

best rookie gets the award; if its a Grant Hill and Jason Kidd situation so be it, but vote on it.

I agree.

Ill only have an issue depending on who has a vote. Voters cam be biased obviously.

I will say both Reeae & Clark are deserving so far. Would be a shame to come to a vote if voters have a bias.

[Ghetto Gospel]

In order to stop the race wars that follows the ROTY award - WNBA should be thinking strongly of co-ROTY and avoid the vote.


Too much extra non hoops conversations being had on social media & some sports heads.

It’s so close I don’t think it would be bad unless one of them breaks away.

there was no race war in the NBA with regards to jokic and embiid. this sets a really bad precedent.

we going to do this in the future as well for MVP if caitlin clark becomes a high level player?

Perkins was on ESPN talking about white MVPs & Black MVPs. JJ Redick responded to his awful take and said it was about basketball.

Guess what - voters CAN BE BIASED! If you're on Twitter you see it. I don't know who has vote power in the WNBA though.

sure race was involved but i wouldn't call it a "race war"; it really wasn't that big of a deal and i don't think anyone is going to be clamoring for jokic and embiid to be co-mvps in the future if the race is tight.

looks like these things are voted for by sportswriters and broadcasters, similar to the NBA. yeah there's going to be biases but we have had unworthy winners of awards all the time in the past. it's life, they'll move on and twitter isn't real life

[cdubbz]

there was no race war in the NBA with regards to jokic and embiid. this sets a really bad precedent.

we going to do this in the future as well for MVP if caitlin clark becomes a high level player?

Perkins was on ESPN talking about white MVPs & Black MVPs. JJ Redick responded to his awful take and said it was about basketball.

Guess what - voters CAN BE BIASED! If you're on Twitter you see it. I don't know who has vote power in the WNBA though.

sure race was involved but i wouldn't call it a "race war"; it really wasn't that big of a deal and i don't think anyone is going to be clamoring for jokic and embiid to be co-mvps in the future if the race is tight.

looks like these things are voted for by sportswriters and broadcasters, similar to the NBA. yeah there's going to be biases but we have had unworthy winners of awards all the time in the past. it's life, they'll move on and twitter isn't real life

I agree with all you're saying and understand all of it.

And yeah 'race war' is an exaggeration on my part. I already see it as an unfair race since voters on both sides (i dont know who they are, but as i've seen almost no one is neutral) will vote their bias. There will be an uproar like we've never seen before if one person wins the award over the other. It's not comparable to Embiid/Jokic or anything since the WNBA is in a different situation.

[hermes]

i'll pitch cheryl reeve for coach and executive of the year. brought in a bunch of new players to the team this year but the chemistry has been impressive from day 1

.500 team last year to a top 4 team this year

[cupcakesnake]

I'm not really into overreacting to stretches of +/- data as evidence against a player with a long history of lifting lineups to success.

Las Vegas has been experimental while Chelsey Gray has been out, letting Plum and Young take on more playmaking instead of using another point guard. The Aces are getting killed in the Megan Gustafson minutes, which A'ja is on the court for almost all of. I think that's the simplest explanation?

A'ja remains the best source of rim pressure in the W. She is basically the only player that has the force to consistently attack the rim, draw fouls, and the finesse to finish at an elite level and counter into the short midrange. Pair that with her dominant rim protection and defensive versatility, and I just don't currently see an argument for another player right now. She is laying waste to defenses at a level we've rarely seen in this league.