Is A’ja Wilson Close to Untouchable Glory? Which WNBA Player Has Won the Most Finals MVP Awards?

The WNBA is one of the most prestigious women?s basketball tournaments around the globe. With the Las Vegas Aces triumphing at the highest level and repeating their 2022 heroics, it is quite obvious to applaud the players who have been contributing their hearts and souls for the Aces. One such player is the WNBA Finals MVP. The players who play their best during the regular season leading up to the title are named the MVP, but the Finals MVP is also an equal, if not more, collaborator in the team’s success since being seeded at the top positions during the regular season but losing the Finals calls only for extreme disappointment.

For the WNBA 2023 season, the Aces captain A?ja Wilson was awarded the Finals MVP for her outstanding performance. Overall, Wilson averaged a whopping 21.25 points during the Finals with 12.5 rebounds per contest and 1.5 assists per game. Today let us have a look at who has won the most Final MVP awards.

Which player has won the most Finals MVP awards?

Since the WNBA?s inception in 1997, there have been only five players who have won the award more than once. They are Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets, Lisa Leslie of the Los Angeles Sparks, Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury, Sylvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx, and Breanna Stewart for the Seattle Storm.

Out of these the contribution of Cynthia Cooper stands out as she won the award for a record maximum four times from 1997-2000. Each year the Houston Comets clinched the title with Cynthia bagging the Finals MVP award. For the unversed, Cynthia was a point guard for the Houston Comets who propelled her team to great heights during the WNBA.

In 1997, she scored 25 points with 4 rebounds and an equal number of assists. This led her team to bag the title by defeating the New York Liberty 65-51. During the 1998 best of three Finals, Cooper amassed 79 points with eight rebounds and thirteen assists. This helped her team defeat Phoenix Mercury 2-1.

During the 1999 Finals, Cooper pocketed 65 points with 13 rebounds and an equal number of assists. Thus, providing the impetus to her team to decimate the New York Liberty 2-1 in a best-of-three clash.

Whereas in 2000, Cooper aggregated 45 points with 7 rebounds and 12 assists during the two games she played against their last year?s rival – the New York Liberty. They clean swept the Liberty in the first two games, hence didn?t have to play the third one.

Apart from Cynthia Cooper, the remaining players have won the award only twice. Lisa Leslie of the Long Angeles Sparks is the only player other than Cynthia Cooper to have won the award consecutively.

Leslie gathered 48 points during the 2001 WNBA Finals against the Charlotte Stings with an extraordinary 21 rebounds and 10 assists. The Sparks ventured out for only two games as they clean-swept the Stings. While during the 2002 Finals, Leslie cumulated 32 points with 16 rebounds and 3 assists. Thus, the Sparks obtained a clear 2-0 advantage over the New York Liberty.

The remaining players namely – Diana Taurasi of the Phoenix Mercury, Slyvia Fowles of the Minnesota Lynx, and Breanna Stewart for the Seattle Storm – have been the Finals MVP twice but never consecutively.

Read More: With A?ja Wilson?s Aces on the Cusp of History, Which Team Won Back-to-Back WNBA Championships?

A?ja Wilson on Wednesday won the award for the first time but made history as her team won back-to-back titles. However, Wilson joined Leslie in becoming the player to have multiple Best Defensive Player of the Year awards, multiple WNBA Championship titles, and a Finals MVP award combined with multiple MVP awards.

If the Aces?s star Chelsea Gray had played and won the Finals MVP, she would have joined the elite list of Lisa Leslie and Cynthia Cooper to win the award consecutively. However, fate had other plans as she was injured during Game 3 and had to sit out.

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Thus, Cynthia Cooper of the Houston Comets won the maximum Final MVP awards with back-to-back 4 titles. Who do you think should have won the MVP award? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.