A’ja Wilson named 2020 WNBA Player of the Year, Cheryl Reeve wins COY, Crystal Dangerfield earns ROY
After her outstanding performance during a truncated 22-game per team season, it’s no surprise that the league named Las Vegas Aces forward A’ja Wilson as the Player of the Year. The Minnesota Lynx’s Crystal Dangerfield earned the Rookie of the Year honor while her coach, Cheryl Reeve, took the Coach of the Year award.
MVP
Over the season, Wilson averaged 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists, 2.0 blocked shots, and 1.23 steals in 31.7 minutes per game. She led the league in blocks, ranked second in scoring, and came in sixth in rebounding. In addition, she shot a career-high 48.0 percent from the field and 78.1 percent from the free-throw line while leading the WNBA in free throws made (118) and attempted (151).
She led the Aces to the best record in the WNBA (18-4) during the regular season and earned the top seed in WNBA Playoffs 2020. She will receive $15,450 and a specially designed trophy by Tiffany & Co.
Coach of the Year
In her 11th season as a head coach, she guided Minnesota to a 14-8 record with several key players sidelined at different times for a significant amount of games including center Sylvia Fowles and guard Odyssey Sims.
She is the third coach to win the award three times, joining Van Chancellor and Mike Thibault. Bill Laimbeer of the Las Vegas Aces finished second in the voting while Derek Fisher of the Los Angeles Sparks and Mike Thibault of the Washington Mystics tied for third.
Rookie of the Year
Dangerfield is the first player not selected in the first round of the WNBA Draft to win the award. She was selected in the second round (16th pick overall) in the 2020 WNBA Draft. She is the fifth Lynx rookie to receive the ROY honor following in the steps of Betty Lennox (1999), Seimone Augustus (2006), Maya Moore (2011), and Napheesa Collier (2019).
Dangerfield received 44 votes out of 47. Atlanta Dream guard Chennedy Carter finished second with two votes and Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally was third with one vote.
Dangerfield’s season in a nutshell: 11th in the WNBA in scoring (16.2 ppg), third in free throw percentage (92.2), started 19 of her 21 regular-season games, played 30.0 minutes per contest. Compared to other rookies: first in three throw percentage, second in scoring, minutes and assists (3.6 apg), tied for fourth in steals (0.86 spg) and fifth in field goal percentage (47.1). She will receive $5,150 and a specially designed trophy by Tiffany & Co.
