Liberty's Breanna Stewart edges Sun's Alyssa Thomas to win 2nd WNBA MVP award

New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart has been named the WNBA Most Valuable Player for the second time, the league announced Tuesday.

Stewart received 20 first-place votes and 446 total points from a national panel of 60 sportswriters and broadcasters to finish only seven points ahead of Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas, who received 23 first-place votes and 439 total votes. Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson, who won the award in 2020 and last season, came in third in the voting with 17 first-place votes and 433 total votes.

“It hurt like hell, it really did,” Wilson said of not being named MVP. “But it’s all part of the game.”

The margin between the winner of the award and runner-up (seven points) was the second smallest in the league's history. The closest finish was a two-point difference between Sheryl Swoopes and Lauren Jackson in 2005.

However, the margin between first- and third-place finisher (13 points) for MVP was actually the smallest in WNBA history, surpassing the 45-point difference in 2013 between Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne.

Stewart, who also won the award in 2018 as a member of the Seattle Storm, averaged 23 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.57 blocked shots and 1.45 steals in 40 games. She set a WNBA record with four games with 40 or more points this season.

Stewart, 29, becomes the eighth player in WNBA history to win the award multiple times, joining three-time winners Lisa Leslie, Jackson and Swoopes and two-time winners Cynthia Cooper, Delle Donne, Parker and Wilson.

“The competitive camaraderie that we have with one and another, but also the way we’re continuing to show excellence in different ways and be the conversation, that’s the way the league needs to go,” Stewart said. “Have people watching different players and making sure they see greatness on all different levels.”

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Stewart set Liberty franchise marks for total points and rebounds while leading the Liberty to a 32-8 record and the No. 2 seed in the 2023 WNBA Playoffs.

The Liberty are currently playing the Thomas and the Sun in the WNBA semifinals and are down 1-0 in the best-of-five series. Game 2 is Tuesday night at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

Thomas was the first player in league history to record at least 600 points, 400 rebounds and 300 assists in a single season. She also set a league high with 27 double-doubles — including six triple-doubles — and set a league record with 316 assists — 7.9 per game — despite playing forward.

Wilson, who edged Stewart 478-446 last season in the MVP balloting, had another stellar season, averaging a career-best 22.8 points and 9.5 rebounds in leading the Aces to a record 34 wins. She had 29 games of 20 points or better this season. She’s upped her game in the playoffs as Las Vegas looks to become the first repeat champion since Los Angeles did it back-to-back in 2001-02.

Wilson and the Aces lead the Dallas Wings 1-0 in the other semifinal, which continues Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Contributing: The Associated Press