WNBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award
| Women's National Basketball Association awards and honors |
|---|
| Championship |
| Individual awards |
| Honors |
The Women's National Basketball Association Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the league's inaugural season.
During the first four years of the league's existence, the Houston Comets reigned. With each Comets championship, Cynthia Cooper was named Finals MVP. As the team's leading scorer, Cooper, along with Tina Thompson and Sheryl Swoopes, led Houston to four consecutive WNBA championships.
In 2001, the Comets' dynasty ended by the hands of the Los Angeles Sparks. The Sparks won back-to-back, and dominant center Lisa Leslie was crowned as the Finals MVP both years.
As of the 2014 finals only one non-American player, Lauren Jackson of Australia, has won a WNBA Finals MVP.
From 2003 to the present, there has been a different winner each season. This is mainly because no team has won back-to-back championships. While some teams have won multiple championship since the dynasty years of the Comets and the Sparks, the match-up usually resulted in different MVPs. An example of this is the Detroit Shock. Despite winning three titles within a six-year span, three different players – Ruth Riley, Deanna Nolan, and Katie Smith – won the Finals MVP award.
Winners
Footnotes
References
- "WNBA history". WNBA.com. WNBA. Retrieved 2009-01-18.