WNBA: Will A’ja Wilson, Napheesa Collier again battle for DPOY?

With the 2025 WNBA season set to begin on Friday, May 16, it’s time to predict the WNBA award winners. Here’s what the race for Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY) looks like for 2025:

A’ja Wilson (Las Vegas Aces)

Wilson won back-to-back DPOYs in 2022 and 2023 and was in the running for a three-peat in 2024. However, Napheesa Collier won the award last year, ending Wilson’s reign of defensive terror.

She may have lost the battle last year, but that doesn’t mean Wilson will not prevail this year. She is as dominant as they come defensively: strong enough to bang in the post, a force when protecting the paint and capable of stepping out and defending on the perimeter. Last season, she led the league in rejections with 98 blocks. Wilson was also elite at stealing the ball, averaging 1.8 swipes per game, which placed her fourth in the WNBA in that department.

After the Aces failed to win last year’s title, Wilson will be ready to lead her squad as they climb back to the top and take on whoever stands in their way. That means she’ll be as sharp as ever as a defender, and when she is playing at her maximum capability, it’s hard to imagine there being a better defender in the WNBA.

Napheesa Collier (Minnesota Lynx)

Collier was a great defender last season, claiming the DPOY from Wilson. She was a decimal point better than Wilson in steals at 1.9 per game and was as good a shot blocker, averaging 1.4 per contest.

It’ll be hard to repeat as DPOY, but if her production remains similar to last year, she’ll be in the running all season long.

Breanna Stewart (New York Liberty)

The Liberty won it all last year, and Stewart was a big reason why. Thanks to her defensive ability, New York was a top-four defense. They reached that level of defense despite having challenges on that end of the floor, especially when Sabrina Ionescu and Courtney Vandersloot played in the backcourt together.

Stewart didn’t win DPOY last season, but she did make First Team All-Defense for the third-straight year. Could 2025 be the year she earns a fourth-consecutive First Team honors, along with her first DPOY?

If anyone can end the three-year run of Wilson and Collier, it’s Stewie!