Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese deserved consideration for the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year award.
asserted
Reese → deserve → award
Her rebounding, effort and ability to force turnovers gave voters plenty of reasons to put her in the conversation.
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rebounding → force → conversation
Apparently, putting her in the conversation wasn’t enough.
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putting → put → conversation
Reese received 46 of the 74 votes for the award announced Thursday.
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Reese → receive → award
Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams finished second with 20.
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Williams → finish → 20
Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson, the best defender in the WNBA as far as I’m concerned, received four.
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I → concern → four
Reese received more than 11 times as many votes as Wilson and more than twice as many as Williams.
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Reese → receive → Williams
The result fits a suspicion I’ve had about Reese’s coverage for a long time: too many members of the media want her to be an elite player so badly that they oversell what she actually does.
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she → fit → what
An award decided by sportswriters and broadcasters gives them something convenient to point to when anyone questions that assessment.
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anyone → decide → assessment
"Of course she’s elite.
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she → ’ → ?
Look at the award we gave her."
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we → look → her
Atlanta was already winning 30 games and playing elite defense
The Dream finished 30-14 this season.
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Dream → win → defense
They ranked third in defensive rating, allowing 103.5 points per 100 possessions.
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They → rank → possessions
But how much better did Atlanta get after adding Reese this past offseason?
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Atlanta → get → Reese
Last year, the Dream finished... 30-14.
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Dream → finish → ?
Surely the team's defense improved by adding the Defensive Player of the Year, right?
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defense → improve → Year
The Dream ranked second in defensive rating, allowing 98.9 points per 100 possessions in 2025.
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Dream → rank → 2025
Atlanta already had one of the league’s best defenses before Reese arrived, and the team was actually a little worse defensively this year.
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team → have → defenses
That doesn’t mean Reese made Atlanta worse.
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Atlanta → mean → ?
Rosters change, opponents change and comparing defensive ratings across seasons requires accounting for many variables.
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comparing → change → variables
But anyone selling her arrival as a dramatic transformation has to explain why the Dream finished with the same number of wins and a slightly worse defensive rating.
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Dream → sell → wins
Reese helped Atlanta allow a league-low 9.5 second-chance points per game, she averaged an impressive 1.8 steals and she led the league in defensive win shares.
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she → help → shares
But she also joined a 30-win team that already played elite defense.
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that → join → defense
A’ja Wilson deserved a lot more than four votes
Wilson gives a defense options that Reese doesn’t provide at the same level.
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Reese → deserve → level
She can protect the basket, switch onto a guard and defend a possession that takes her well away from the paint.
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that → protect → paint
Against Indiana in August, Wilson guarded Caitlin Clark with the game on the line in overtime and forced the turnover that set up Chelsea Gray’s winning 3-pointer.
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that → guard → pointer
Aces coach Becky Hammon said after the game: "I’ll take that matchup … any day."
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I → say → matchup
I don't think the Atlanta Dream want Reese trying to defend Clark on the perimeter with the game on the line.
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game → think → line
In fact, if that matchup happened, it would mean some very poor coaching and execution from the Dream.
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it → happen → Dream
Reese’s activity around the basket is valuable, but Wilson’s ability to handle that assignment is a major reason she's the league's best defender.
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she → handle → assignment
Wilson led the league in blocks for the fifth consecutive season, averaging 1.9 blocks per game, while Reese averaged just 0.7.
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Reese → lead → 0.7
Wilson actually averaged more defensive rebounds per game (7.5) than Reese (7.3), while adding 1.4 steals per game.
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Wilson → average → game
The defensive rebounding comparison tends to get lost amid the celebration of Reese’s rebounding records.
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comparison → tend → records
Of her 521 rebounds this season, 206 came on offense.
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206 → come → offense
Those are valuable possessions to create, but they aren’t defensive stops and shouldn't factor into a Defensive Player of the Year conversation.
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they → create → conversation
And, of course, there are the "mebounds" Reese gets when she misses a layup and rebounds her own shot.
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she → be → shot
Wilson has advanced statistics supporting her case, too.
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Wilson → have → case
CBS Sports’ Jack Maloney explained that he voted for Reese while acknowledging that Wilson led the league in defensive VPM, an advanced metric estimating a player’s impact on preventing points.
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Wilson → explain → points
Gabby Williams had a serious argument, too.
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Williams → have → argument
She regularly took the opponent’s toughest scoring assignment for Golden State’s top-ranked defense.
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She → take → defense
…and 30 more, not listed.
The Aporia
