WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Award

The Women's National Basketball Association's Defensive Player of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season -- 1997, to the top defensive player of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters and broadcasters 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.

Tamika Catchings has won the defensive player of the year award more times than any other player with the record of 5.[1]

Winners

	Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA
	Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
	Inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
	Denotes player whose team won championship that year
Player (X)	Denotes the number of times the player has won
Team (X)	Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won

Season Player Position Nationality Team 1997 Teresa Weatherspoon Guard  United States New York Liberty 1998 Teresa Weatherspoon (2) Guard  United States New York Liberty (2) 1999 Yolanda Griffith Center  United States Sacramento Monarchs 2000 Sheryl Swoopes Guard / Forward  United States Houston Comets 2001 Debbie Black Guard  United States Miami Sol 2002 Sheryl Swoopes (2) Guard / Forward  United States Houston Comets (2) 2003 Sheryl Swoopes (3) Guard / Forward  United States Houston Comets (3) 2004 Lisa Leslie Center  United States Los Angeles Sparks 2005 Tamika Catchings Forward  United States Indiana Fever 2006 Tamika Catchings (2) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (2) 2007 Lauren Jackson Forward / Center  Australia Seattle Storm 2008 Lisa Leslie (2) Center[2]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (2) 2009 Tamika Catchings (3) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (3) 2010 Tamika Catchings (4) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (4) 2011 Sylvia Fowles Center[3]  United States Chicago Sky 2012 Tamika Catchings (5) Forward  United States Indiana Fever (5) 2013 Sylvia Fowles (2) Center[3]  United States Chicago Sky (2) 2014 Brittney Griner Center  United States Phoenix Mercury 2015 Brittney Griner (2) Center  United States Phoenix Mercury (2) 2016 Sylvia Fowles (3) Center[3]  United States Minnesota Lynx 2017 Alana Beard Guard / Forward[4]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (3) 2018 Alana Beard (2) Guard / Forward[5]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (4) 2019 Natasha Howard Guard / Forward[6]  United States Seattle Storm (2) 2020 Candace Parker Forward / Center[7]  United States Los Angeles Sparks (5)

See also

• List of sports awards honoring women

References

1. "Saying Goodbye to WNBA Great Tamika Catchings". Retrieved 2016-10-01.
2. "WNBA.com: Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie Named 2008 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". www.wnba.com. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
3. "Sylvia Fowles wins WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". 2016-09-30. Retrieved 2016-10-01.
4. "Los Angeles' Alana Beard Named 2017 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 12, 2017. Retrieved October 5, 2017.
5. "Sparks' Alana Beard Named 2018 Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. August 30, 2018. Retrieved August 30, 2018.
6. "Seattle's Natasha Howard Named 2019 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year" (Press release). WNBA. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
7. "Candace Parker Named 2020 WNBA Defensive Player Of The Year". wnba.com. WNBA. September 24, 2020. Retrieved September 24, 2020.

• "WNBA Defensive Player of the Year". Retrieved January 19, 2009.