WNBA MVP Ladder: Caitlin Clark kicks down the door in major update to award race originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
The WNBA regular season is into its final five weeks, which means it’s time for another look at the ever-shifting MVP ladder.
Advertisement
Caitlin Clark‘s strong second half of the season has seen her shoot up the rankings, but can she catch up to the top two? That’s what the next weeks will tell us — with the playoff field practically set, seeding will come into play as voters try to determine the league’s most valuable player.
WNBA MVP Ladder
Honorable mentions: Paige Bueckers, Kelsey Mitchell, Breanna Stewart
The Dallas Wings‘ recent slide has hurt Bueckers’ candidacy, but she continues to have a strong individual season (20.5 points, 5.8 assists on 51/38/87 splits) and will guide the Wings to the playoffs anyway. Bueckers surely will win MVP in the near future.
Advertisement
Mitchell, long one of the WNBA’s most dangerous scorers, is enjoying the best season of her career. She is second in the league in scoring at 24.2 points per game, and through play Sunday, she has scored at least 20 points in 19 consecutive games — one off from the all-time league record.
Stewart and the Liberty are back on track following a post-Commissioner’s Cup lull. The two-time MVP is unlikely to add a third trophy to her cabinet in 2026, but she is back in familiar territory with 20.3 points per game on 46/26/85 splits. New York has won nine of its past 11 since a 20-point loss to the Fever on July 18.
3. Caitlin Clark, Fever
Over the past month or so, Clark has embarked on the best sustained stretch of performances in her three-year WNBA career. It has launched her firmly into the MVP conversation — especially if Indiana can secure a top-three seed.
Advertisement
In her past 11 games, Clark has averaged 26.3 points, 9.4 assists and 3.5 rebounds on 50/41/87 shooting splits. Indiana has a 9-2 record in those 11 games, and the Fever’s offense is on a record-setting pace; their 117.1 offensive rating would be a new league record if the season ended today.
Clark has added more mid-range scoring to her offensive arsenal, which has made her more difficult to defend. She is the only player in the WNBA to rank in the top three both in scoring (22.0 points per game) and in assists (8.3).
Indiana is on pace to win a franchise-record 29 games, and Clark is the face of the franchise. She has ensured that she is in the discussion, at least.
Advertisement
2. Olivia Miles, Lynx
Miles’ hopes of securing only the second MVP-Rookie of the Year sweep in WNBA history remain very realistic.
Miles and the Minnesota Lynx have kept right on humming since Napheesa Collier‘s return from injury last month. The ball has remained in Miles’ hands (her 27.2 usage rate is the team’s highest) and the 23-year-old is flirting with a 50/40/90 season as the Lynx are on track to repeat as the WNBA’s best regular-season team.
The story of the 29-7 Lynx can’t be told without Miles’ contribution. She is averaging 19.9 points and 6.1 assists with 50/40/88 shooting splits. She plays superb defense and looks like she’ll be an All-Star for a decade. It may not quite be her turn yet… but what if it was?
1. A’ja Wilson, Aces
Wilson remains the frontrunner to win MVP, but Miles’ sustained excellence is giving the Aces superstar a real run for her money.
Advertisement
Wilson is on track to win her third scoring title and could add a fourth Defensive Player of the Year win to a possible record-extending fifth MVP trophy. The 30-year-old is averaging 26.1 points per game, and Las Vegas has just a 4-6 record when she doesn’t score at least 20.
A top-two seed seems walled off from Las Vegas; the Aces won’t catch the Lynx for the top spot, and they have three more losses than the second-seeded Golden State Valkyries. Miles leading Minnesota to the league’s best record would be a major feather in her cap.
But Wilson impacts the game in so many ways — and does just about everything well — that even as the vote narrows, she should still have enough to claim yet another MVP.
Advertisement
