Angel Reese Wins 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year

Angel Reese received 46 of 74 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters and was named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday. No Atlanta Dream player had won the award before.

Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams finished second with 20 votes. Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson received four, Shakira Austin received two, and Veronica Burton and Rhyne Howard received one apiece.

Reese is the first player from an Eastern Conference team to win it since Sylvia Fowles did so with the Chicago Sky in 2013.

The league made the announcement one day after Atlanta finished a first-round sweep of the Washington Mystics with a 93-75 win at CareFirst Arena, where Jordin Canada scored 13 of her 19 points in the fourth quarter. Reese had 15 points, seven rebounds, and three blocks in the clincher. Atlanta won Game 1 at home 92-77 on Sunday behind DeWanna Bonner's 11-point third quarter.

Video posted by the WNBA and the Dream showed Reese's mother, also named Angel, surprising her with the trophy.

Howard, Canada, and Reese finished first, second, and third in the league in steals per game, according to the Dream. Reese had 77 steals in 43 games.

Reese, 24, views the award as a starting point.

"I have the trophy, but I definitely want Jordin and Rhyne to sign it because I think they deserve it just as much as I do," Reese said in the Dream's announcement. "I'm grateful for Atlanta, I'm grateful for my teammates and my coaches and all the supporting staff that supports us. This is just the beginning."

Earlier in the season, Reese had made the prediction herself: "The Defensive Player of the Year is in Atlanta!"

She led the league with 3.39 defensive win shares, according to the Dream. Her 100.0 defensive rating ranked fourth. With Reese on the floor, Atlanta allowed 7.9 fewer points per 100 possessions, the largest on/off differential among the Dream's rotation players.

Reese grabbed 315 defensive rebounds. Her average of 7.3 per game ranked fourth in the league, and Atlanta held opponents to a league-low 9.5 second-chance points per game.

She averaged 16.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.8 assists, and 1.8 steals. It was her third straight season leading the WNBA in rebounding. She also blocked a career-high 32 shots.

Reese set WNBA single-season records with 521 rebounds, 206 offensive rebounds, and 32 double-doubles. No player in league history had reached 500 rebounds in a season before her.

On Aug. 24, in a 78-71 win over the Los Angeles Sparks, Reese grabbed 26 rebounds. That broke the single-game record of 24 that Chamique Holdsclaw set for Washington on May 23, 2003. The same night, Reese passed the single-season rebounding record Wilson set in 2024.

The Associated Press named Reese its Defensive Player of the Year on Sept. 27 and put her on the All-AP Second Team with Howard. She was selected to her third straight All-Star Game. During the season, she also became the first Dream player to win Eastern Conference Player of the Week three weeks in a row.

Reese was part of the U.S. team that won the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin.

Atlanta acquired her from the Chicago Sky on April 6 for first-round picks in 2027 and 2028. The Dream also received the right to swap 2028 second-round picks. Chicago drafted Reese seventh overall in 2024, and she averaged 14.1 points and 12.9 rebounds in 64 games with the Sky, making the All-Star team in both seasons.

The Dream went 30-14 in the regular season and entered the playoffs as the No. 4 seed. The semifinal berth is Atlanta's first since 2018.

Next up is the No. 8 New York Liberty, who swept the top-seeded Minnesota Lynx. Game 1 of the best-of-five semifinals is Sunday at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, and the Dream host Games 1, 2, and, if necessary, 5. The tip-off time and network have not been announced.