Karli Bell's 2025 WNBA Award Votes
- Karli Bell
- Sep 8
- 6 min read
As the 2025 WNBA season comes to a close, the discussion around WNBA awards heats up. For those who are wondering, I do not have an actual vote for the WNBA Awards; so, let me share with you all who I would chose for the WNBA Awards.
Rookie of the Year
Voting Order
Paige Bueckers, Dallas Wings
Sonia Citron, Washington Mystics
Kiki Iriafen, Washington Mystics
Dominique Malonga, Seattle Storm
I've said it since the beginning that Paige Bueckers would be the Rookie of the Year since the first game of the season, and I stand by it. However, I think it became a closer race than anticipated due to Sonia Citron's explosive rookie season with the Mystics. Citron's consistent offensive efficiency has put her name on the map more than many people anticipated.
Bueckers is an undeniable generational talent who is a two-way point guard that every single opponent must respect. Her handles and facilitation abilities are parts of her game that would translate pretty easily. However, her defensive game has also translated in creating turnovers and helping establish early transitional play for the Wings. While their record may not show it, her presence and gameplay are transcendent and make her the easy choice for ROY.
Sixth Player of the Year
Voting Order
Naz Hillmon, Atlanta Dream
Jessica Shepard, Minnesota Lynx
Dana Evans, Las Vegas Aces
Dominique Malonga, Seattle Storm
This was an award that you couldn't really tell who would be the favorite at the start of the season. By the WNBA All-Star break, three names really came to the front of mind with Atlanta's Naz Hillmon leading the way.
Her electricity, energy and high offensive efficiency have been huge factors for the Atlanta Dream all season. The Dream have some heavy hitters at the guard position in Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard who provide high numbers in the points category. When they take their breather, Hillmon brings that exact same energy off the bench by providing career highs across the stat sheet.
Jessica Shepard has been a key piece for Minnesota this season as well. Her versatility aligns beautifully with the rest of the Lynx's roster and is a two-way player who cannot be underestimated. Her efficiency was shown while Napheesa Collier was sidelined with injury during the middle of the season.
However, the depth of the Lynx's roster is hard to overcome, which credit to Cheryl Reeve on roster construction. Atlanta does have depth but nothing near the capacity of Minnesota. Hillmon's contributions make up for some lack of depth and kept them in close games all season long, earning her my first place vote.
Defensive Player of the Year
Voting Order
Alanna Smith, Minnesota Lynx
Gabby Williams, Seattle Storm
A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
This is the closest race of them all. I truly believe either of these four players can win the award for DPOY, and it may come down to some postseason action to determine who will take it home. At this point of the season, this is my order for DPOY.
Alanna Smith has been dominant in her defensive game as a top 3 shot blocker in the WNBA behind A'ja Wilson and Ezi Magbegor. Her deflections near the top of the key have been vital in creating some transitional play for the Lynx all season. She's incredibly physical and resilient with a gritty style of play inside that's difficult for opponents to just blow past.
Gabby Williams is a very close second. What Smith does on the inside is what Williams does on the perimeter. She leads the league in steals and can also capitalize on those steals with buckets of her own. She's been a huge catalyst for Seattle's explosive transitional style of basketball this season. Whether she's the one scoring or the one dishing it off the steal, her defensive impact has been a factor in close wins for the Storm to keep them in the playoff race.
Most Improved Player
Voting Order
Azurá Stevens, Los Angeles Sparks
Veronica Burton, Golden State Valkyries
Gabby Wiliams, Seattle Storm
Rickea Jackson, Los Angeles Sparks
It's a close race between Azurá Stevens and Veronica Burton for the MIP award this season. However, I have Stevens just slightly edging Burton out of the top spot.
Stevens is coming off a half season in 2024 due to injury and didn't see as much playing time or opportunities as she would have if she was healthy. This 2025 campaign from Stevens has shown a much-improved offensive game while still holding down her defensive presence inside. The 6-foot-7 center also expanded her shooting range to where she's knocking down 3-pointers consistently, shooting almost 40% from the arc while shooting near 50% from the floor.
Burton is right behind her. Burton set career highs across the board this season, including minutes. Burton went from being a bench player on a stellar Connecticut Sun team in 2024 to a starter on an expansion team in 2025 that's making the playoffs in their first season. Burton always had this ability and efficiency; she was just never given the opportunity. That's why I believe Stevens beats out Burton for the MIP award.
Most Valuable Player
Voting Order
Alyssa Thomas, Phoenix Mercury
A'ja Wilson, Las Vegas Aces
Napheesa Collier, Minnesota Lynx
Sabrina Ionescu, New York Liberty
Ah, the most coveted award for WNBA players and the most dissected this season. If you heard me on Courtside with Karli Bell at the beginning of the season, I was fully convinced that Napheesa Collier was going to be this year's MVP. Now as the WNBA season has progressed, I don't believe she'll see second place.
What Alyssa Thomas has done this season in Phoenix has been just historic. She was averaging a triple-double for a period of time with points, assists and rebounds. Her defensive game also cannot be overlooked as she is a physical force inside, creating turnovers on a consistent basis for the Mercury to just get out and run down the floor.
A'ja Wilson's electric second half of the WNBA season has been just incredible. 13 consecutive 30+ point games is nothing to shake your head at or overlook. On top of just her offensive efficiency, she continuously crashes the glass and leads the leagues in blocks, averaging 2.2 a game. Her ability to rally a struggling Aces team to go on a 13-game winning streak and move up to No. 2 in the standings is MVP-caliber leadership.
I truly think it's a close 3-way race between Thomas, Wilson and Collier. However, Thomas' triple-doubles, defensive ferocity and impact on the Mercury team just gives her the edge over Wilson and Collier.
Coach of the Year
Voting Order
Natalie Nakase, Golden State Valkyries
Karl Smesko, Atlanta Dream
Becky Hammon, Las Vegas Aces
Nate Tibbetts, Phoenix Mercury
A first-year head coach should be the winner of this year's COY award, and it's between Natalie Nakase and Karl Smesko. However, what Nakase has done with an expansion team in its inaugural season has never been done in WNBA history. That's really hard to sweep over, especially when you look at how the roster was orginally constructed.
Smesko also has done an incredible job with a top-tier roster in pushing them to the playoffs and seeing buy-in almost instantly from his players. He was highly regarded in his collegiate coaching career, and you can see why in his first season of the WNBA. However, I believe taking an expansion team to the playoffs in year 1 supercedes any other argument for any other coach.
Executive of the Year
Dan Padover, Atlanta Dream
Oheema Nyanin, Golden State Valkyries
Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx
Nick U'ren, Phoenix Mercury
Where Nakase wins as COY is where I see Atlanta winning the executive of the year. What the Dream did in the offseason was very quiet but incredibly mighty. They somewhat overhauled their roster, seeing Tina Charles, Cheyenne Parker-Tyus, Aerial Powers, Crystal Dangerfield and others walk. They brought in two powerhouse posts in Brionna Jones and Brittney Griner along with Shatori Walker-Kimbrough in the guard group. On top of that, they snagged a sharp-shooter in the draft in Te-Hina PaoPao who's stepped up big when players were down with injury.
Add that with a new head coach, the Dream truly turned their team fully around, nearly doubling their win total and sealing a top 4 playoff seed. Padover deserves a lot of credit in rejuvenating the Atlanta Dream.
