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The Paris Olympics may be over, but don’t fret, the 2024 WNBA season resumes Thursday, kicking off what should be an entertaining two months as a competitive regular season gives way to a seemingly open-ended playoff push.
The individual play so far in 2024 has been stellar, headlined by a spectacular run from the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson that could go down as one of the best in league history. And so it was no debate that she would keep her spot as the No. 1 player on ESPN’s top 25 WNBA player rankings, now updated through the (unofficial) first half of the season.
Newcomers to this list include two first-year players who are neck and neck in the Rookie of the Year race, the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese. Both also earned WNBA All-Star bids, making them the first pair of rookies to earn that distinction since 2014. Other new additions to the rankings include the Los Angeles Sparks’ Dearica Hamby, Minnesota Lynx’s Kayla McBride and Sky’s Chennedy Carter.
The ranking features 10 of the 12 Olympians who just took home gold in 5-on-5 women’s basketball, two Olympic bronze medalists in 3×3, one 5-on-5 bronze medalist, as well as all 12 members of Team WNBA that beat the Olympic squad in the 2024 All-Star Game.
To qualify for inclusion, players had to appear in over half of their team’s games. That meant Chelsea Gray, who didn’t return for the Aces until late June because of a foot injury, missed the cut, but could make it in another iteration of the rankings later this season. Another player who wasn’t eligible was Satou Sabally, an All-WNBA selection last year who recently competed for Germany at the Olympics, but didn’t suit up for the Dallas Wings earlier this summer as she recovered from a shoulder injury.
Here’s how ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel ranked the top 25 players in the WNBA.
Center | 6-foot-4
2024 stats: 27.2 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 2.9 BPG
Preseason ranking: 1
Wilson is in the middle of an amazing season right now. She enters the post-Olympic part of the schedule leading the league in scoring, rebounding, blocks, Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and win shares. The Aces have had bumps in the road and are in fifth place, but Wilson has been brilliant and is racing toward her third MVP award. –Michael Voepel
Forward | 6-foot-4
2024 stats: 19.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.0 SPG
Preseason ranking: 2
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[ad_1]
The Paris Olympics may be over, but don’t fret, the 2024 WNBA season resumes Thursday, kicking off what should be an entertaining two months as a competitive regular season gives way to a seemingly open-ended playoff push.
The individual play so far in 2024 has been stellar, headlined by a spectacular run from the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson that could go down as one of the best in league history. And so it was no debate that she would keep her spot as the No. 1 player on ESPN’s top 25 WNBA player rankings, now updated through the (unofficial) first half of the season.
Newcomers to this list include two first-year players who are neck and neck in the Rookie of the Year race, the Indiana Fever’s Caitlin Clark and Chicago Sky’s Angel Reese. Both also earned WNBA All-Star bids, making them the first pair of rookies to earn that distinction since 2014. Other new additions to the rankings include the Los Angeles Sparks’ Dearica Hamby, Minnesota Lynx’s Kayla McBride and Sky’s Chennedy Carter.
The ranking features 10 of the 12 Olympians who just took home gold in 5-on-5 women’s basketball, two Olympic bronze medalists in 3×3, one 5-on-5 bronze medalist, as well as all 12 members of Team WNBA that beat the Olympic squad in the 2024 All-Star Game.
To qualify for inclusion, players had to appear in over half of their team’s games. That meant Chelsea Gray, who didn’t return for the Aces until late June because of a foot injury, missed the cut, but could make it in another iteration of the rankings later this season. Another player who wasn’t eligible was Satou Sabally, an All-WNBA selection last year who recently competed for Germany at the Olympics, but didn’t suit up for the Dallas Wings earlier this summer as she recovered from a shoulder injury.
Here’s how ESPN’s Kevin Pelton, Alexa Philippou and Michael Voepel ranked the top 25 players in the WNBA.
Center | 6-foot-4
2024 stats: 27.2 PPG, 12.0 RPG, 2.9 BPG
Preseason ranking: 1
Wilson is in the middle of an amazing season right now. She enters the post-Olympic part of the schedule leading the league in scoring, rebounding, blocks, Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and win shares. The Aces have had bumps in the road and are in fifth place, but Wilson has been brilliant and is racing toward her third MVP award. –Michael Voepel
Forward | 6-foot-4
2024 stats: 19.3 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 4.0 APG, 2.0 SPG
Preseason ranking: 2
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