2021 WNBA Awards – Preseason Watch!

The WNBA season tips off in less than three weeks and with that, comes something new to www.wbasketballblog.com this season. I am now tracking the WNBA awards watch, every week once the WNBA season starts! It will be updated every Monday, so make sure you are subscribed to receive it via your inbox. This should give us a sense of which player is performing well in certain categories. It also will tell us who was consistent throughout the entire WNBA season by the end of the regular season.

There are two things to keep in mind. 1.) It is still in a pandemic, so player performance may be altered by it. 2.) It is also a delayed Olympic year, so about half of the players are either coming after August, or not coming over at all. Somehow, the WNBA also scheduled a WNBA All Star Game as well, so the season will feel like a grind and players are going to be exhausted playing through that as well. It is going to be one of the toughest seasons yet for WNBA players to experience.

With all of that said, I now present below my predictions for the WNBA awards that get handed out during playoffs in September/October. (Pre season edition)

WNBA Awards Watch – Pre season

Executive of the Year

Cheryl Reeve, Minnesota Lynx

Coach of the Year

Mike Thibault, Washington Mystics

Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award

Sue Bird, Seattle Storm

Most Improved Player

Kia Nurse, Phoenix Mercury

Sixth Woman of the Year

Azura Stevens, Chicago Sky

All Defense Team

First Team

• Aja Wilson – Las Vegas Aces
• Elizabeth Williams – Atlanta Dream
• Sylvia Fowles – Minnesota Lynx (originally had Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun)
• Brittney Sykes – Los Angeles Sparks
• Natasha Howard – New York Liberty

Second Team

• Napheesa Collier – Minnesota Lynx
• Betnijah Laney – New York Liberty (*originally had Gabby Williams of the Los Angeles Sparks but she will not play in the upcoming WNBA season due to the French national team commitments)
• Ariel Atkins – Washington Mystics
• Brianna Turner – Phoenix Mercury
• Jasmine Thomas – Connecticut Sun

Defensive Player of the Year

Elizabeth Williams – Atlanta Dream (originally had Alyssa Thomas from the Connecticut Sun, but she is held out of the season with an injury)

All WNBA Teams

First Team

• Candace Parker – Chicago Sky
• A’ja Wilson – Las Vegas Aces
• Napheesa Collier – Minnesota Lynx
• Courtney Vandersloot – Chicago Sky
• Chelsea Gray – Las Vegas Aces

Second Team

• Nneka Ogwumike – Los Angeles Sparks (originally had Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun)
• Elena Delle Donne – Washington Mystics
• Breanna Stewart – Seattle Storm
• Sabrina Ionescu – New York Liberty
• Jewell Loyd – Seattle Storm

MVP

Napheesa Collier – Minnesota Lynx

ROY

Awak Kuier – Dallas Wings (*once she receives her work visa and can come to the States)

All Rookie Team

• Chelsea Dungee – Dallas Wings
• Charli Collier – Dallas Wings
• Kysre Gondrezick – Indiana Fever
• Arella Guirantes – Los Angeles Sparks/Awak Kuier – Dallas Wings
• Aari McDonald – Atlanta Dream