NEW YORK — Atlanta Dream All-Star forward Angel Reese was voted WNBA Defensive Player of the Year on Thursday, receiving 46 votes from 72 media members.
Golden State’s Gabby Williams finished second with 20 votes and Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson was third. Wilson won the award in 2022 and 2023 and shared the honor with Minnesota’s Alanna Smith last year.
Reese, a three-time All-Star, helped the Dream advance to the WNBA playoff semifinals for the first time since 2018 in her first year with the franchise. The Chicago Sky, who selected her with the No. 7 pick in the 2024 draft, traded her to the Dream in April.
Atlanta will host Game 1 of the semifinals Sunday against New York, which swept Minnesota to become the first No. 8 seed to eliminate a No. 1 seed in the league’s 30-year history.
Reese, 24, averaged a league-high 12.1 rebounds per game, ranked third with 1.8 steals and helped the Dream have the third-best defensive rating in the WNBA. The 6-foot-4 forward broke single-season WNBA records with 521 rebounds and 206 offensive rebounds and set a record with 26 rebounds in a game.