WNBA All-Defensive Team

The WNBA All-Defensive Team is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) honor given since the 2005 WNBA season to the best defensive players during the regular season. Voting is conducted by the WNBA head coaches. who are not allowed to vote for players on their own team. The All-Defensive Team is composed of two five-woman lineups, a first and a second team, comprising a total of 10 roster spots. The players each receive two points for each first team vote and one point for each second team vote. The top five players with the highest point total make the first team, with the next five making the second team. Starting with the 2023 season, players are selected without regard to position; this follows the WNBA having adopted a "positionless" format for the All-WNBA Team in 2022.[1] Before 2023, each team consisted of one center, two forwards, and two guards. During that time, if there was already a center on the first team, but another center received more points than two of the guards on the first team, that center would still be on the second team.

Tamika Catchings has the record for the most total selections with 11. Catchings has 10 first team selections and 1 second team selection.

In 2020, Defensive Player of the Year Candace Parker, was not selected to either of the WNBA All-Defensive Teams. This was the first time in the history of the award that the Defensive Player of the Year was not selected to an All-Defensive Team in either the WNBA or NBA. It reflects a difference in voters: The WNBA's defensive player of the year is voted on by media, while the all-defensive teams are voted on by the league's coaches.[2]

Winners

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Player (X) Denotes the number of times the player has been selected
Player
(in bold text)
Indicates the player who won the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year in the same year[a]

2005 to present

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Season First team Second team
Player Nationality Team Player Nationality Team
2005 Tamika Catchings   United States Indiana Fever Lauren Jackson   Australia Seattle Storm
Sheryl Swoopes   United States Houston Comets Taj McWilliams-Franklin   United States Connecticut Sun
Yolanda Griffith   United States Sacramento Monarchs Lisa Leslie   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Tully Bevilaqua   Australia Indiana Fever Alana Beard   United States Washington Mystics
Katie Douglas   United States Connecticut Sun Deanna Nolan   United States Detroit Shock
2006 Tamika Catchings (2)   United States Indiana Fever Alana Beard (2)   United States Washington Mystics
Lisa Leslie (2)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Margo Dydek   Poland Connecticut Sun
Sheryl Swoopes (2)   United States Houston Comets Deanna Nolan (2)   United States Detroit Shock
Tully Bevilaqua (2)   Australia Indiana Fever Cheryl Ford   United States Detroit Shock
Katie Douglas (2)   United States Connecticut Sun Yolanda Griffith (2)   United States Sacramento Monarchs
2007 Tamika Catchings (3)   United States Indiana Fever Tully Bevilaqua (3)   Australia Indiana Fever
Lauren Jackson (2)   Australia Seattle Storm Rebekkah Brunson   United States Sacramento Monarchs
Katie Douglas (3)   United States Connecticut Sun Margo Dydek (2)   Poland Connecticut Sun
Alana Beard (3)   United States Washington Mystics Loree Moore   United States New York Liberty
Deanna Nolan (3)   United States Detroit Shock Chelsea Newton   United States Sacramento Monarchs
2008 Lisa Leslie (3)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Sylvia Fowles   United States Chicago Sky
Tamika Catchings (4)   United States Indiana Fever Lauren Jackson (3)   Australia Seattle Storm
Sophia Young   St. Vincent San Antonio Silver Stars Rebekkah Brunson (2)   United States Sacramento Monarchs
Ticha Penicheiro   Portugal Sacramento Monarchs Deanna Nolan (4)   United States Detroit Shock
Tully Bevilaqua (4)   Australia Indiana Fever Katie Smith   United States Detroit Shock
2009 Tamika Catchings (5)   United States Indiana Fever Lisa Leslie (4)   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Lauren Jackson (4)   Australia Seattle Storm Sancho Lyttle   St. Vincent Atlanta Dream
Nicky Anosike   United States Minnesota Lynx Angel McCoughtry   United States Atlanta Dream
Tanisha Wright   United States Seattle Storm Deanna Nolan (5)   United States Detroit Shock
Tully Bevilaqua (5)   Australia Indiana Fever Candace Parker   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Alana Beard (4)   United States Washington Mystics
2010 Tamika Catchings (6)   United States Indiana Fever Lauren Jackson (5)   Australia Seattle Storm
Angel McCoughtry (2)   United States Atlanta Dream Rebekkah Brunson (3)   United States Minnesota Lynx
Sylvia Fowles (2)   United States Chicago Sky Sancho Lyttle (2)   Spain Atlanta Dream
Tanisha Wright (2)   United States Seattle Storm Lindsey Harding   United States Washington Mystics
Cappie Pondexter   United States New York Liberty Tully Bevilaqua (6)   Australia Indiana Fever
Katie Douglas (4)   United States Indiana Fever
2011 Tamika Catchings (7)   United States Indiana Fever Sancho Lyttle (3)   Spain Atlanta Dream
Rebekkah Brunson (4)   United States Minnesota Lynx Swin Cash   United States Seattle Storm
Sylvia Fowles (3)   United States Chicago Sky Tina Charles   United States Connecticut Sun
Tanisha Wright (3)   United States Seattle Storm Armintie Price   United States Atlanta Dream
Angel McCoughtry (3)   United States Atlanta Dream Katie Douglas (5)   United States Indiana Fever
2012 Tamika Catchings (8)   United States Indiana Fever Sophia Young (2)   St. Vincent San Antonio Silver Stars
Sancho Lyttle (4)   Spain Atlanta Dream Candace Parker (2)   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Sylvia Fowles (4)   United States Chicago Sky Tina Charles (2)   United States Connecticut Sun
Alana Beard (5)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Armintie Price (2)   United States Atlanta Dream
Briann January   United States Indiana Fever Danielle Robinson   United States San Antonio Silver Stars
2013 Sylvia Fowles (5)   United States Chicago Sky Rebekkah Brunson (5)   United States Minnesota Lynx
Tamika Catchings (9)   United States Indiana Fever Glory Johnson   United States Tulsa Shock
Angel McCoughtry (4)   United States Atlanta Dream Érika de Souza   Brazil Atlanta Dream
Armintie Price (3)   United States Atlanta Dream Briann January (2)   United States Indiana Fever
Tanisha Wright (4)   United States Seattle Storm Jia Perkins   United States San Antonio Silver Stars
Danielle Robinson (2)   United States San Antonio Silver Stars
2014 Sancho Lyttle (5)   Spain Atlanta Dream Tamika Catchings (10)   United States Indiana Fever
Angel McCoughtry (5)   United States Atlanta Dream Maya Moore   United States Minnesota Lynx
Brittney Griner   United States Phoenix Mercury Sylvia Fowles (6)   United States Chicago Sky
Tanisha Wright (5)   United States Seattle Storm Alana Beard (6)   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Briann January (3)   United States Indiana Fever Danielle Robinson (3)   United States San Antonio Stars
2015 Tamika Catchings (11)   United States Indiana Fever Tina Charles (3)   United States New York Liberty
Nneka Ogwumike   United States Los Angeles Sparks Sancho Lyttle (6)   Spain Atlanta Dream
Brittney Griner (2)   United States Phoenix Mercury Kiah Stokes   United States New York Liberty
Angel McCoughtry (6)   United States Atlanta Dream DeWanna Bonner   United States Phoenix Mercury
Briann January (4)   United States Indiana Fever Tanisha Wright (6)   United States New York Liberty
2016 Alana Beard (7)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Brittney Griner (3)   United States Phoenix Mercury
Angel McCoughtry (7)   United States Atlanta Dream Tamika Catchings (12)   United States Indiana Fever
Nneka Ogwumike (2)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Breanna Stewart   United States Seattle Storm
Sylvia Fowles (7)   United States Minnesota Lynx Tanisha Wright (7)   United States New York Liberty
Briann January (5)   United States Indiana Fever Jasmine Thomas   United States Connecticut Sun
2017 Alana Beard (8)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Brittney Griner (4)   United States Phoenix Mercury
Tina Charles (4)   United States New York Liberty Rebekkah Brunson (6)   United States Minnesota Lynx
Nneka Ogwumike (3)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Maya Moore (2)   United States Minnesota Lynx
Sylvia Fowles (8)   United States Minnesota Lynx Briann January (6)   United States Indiana Fever
Jasmine Thomas (2)   United States Connecticut Sun Alyssa Thomas   United States Connecticut Sun
2018 Alana Beard (9)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Sylvia Fowles (9)   United States Minnesota Lynx
Brittney Griner (5)   United States Phoenix Mercury Rebekkah Brunson (7)   United States Minnesota Lynx
Natasha Howard   United States Seattle Storm Nneka Ogwumike (4)   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Jessica Breland   United States Atlanta Dream Ariel Atkins   United States Washington Mystics
Jasmine Thomas (3)   United States Connecticut Sun Tiffany Hayes   United States Atlanta Dream
2019[3] Natasha Howard (2)   United States Seattle Storm Brittney Griner (6)   United States Phoenix Mercury
Jonquel Jones   Bahamas Connecticut Sun Ariel Atkins (2)   United States Washington Mystics
Jasmine Thomas (4)   United States Connecticut Sun Alysha Clark   United States Seattle Storm
Nneka Ogwumike (5)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Alyssa Thomas (2)   United States Connecticut Sun
Jordin Canada   United States Seattle Storm Natasha Cloud   United States Washington Mystics
2020[2] Alysha Clark (2)   United States Seattle Storm Breanna Stewart (2)   United States Seattle Storm
Betnijah Laney   United States Atlanta Dream Napheesa Collier   United States Minnesota Lynx
Brianna Turner   United States Phoenix Mercury Ariel Atkins (3)   United States Washington Mystics
Alyssa Thomas (3)   United States Connecticut Sun Brittney Sykes   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Elizabeth Williams   United States Atlanta Dream A'ja Wilson   United States Las Vegas Aces
2021[4] Brittney Sykes (2)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Jasmine Thomas (5)   United States Connecticut Sun
Briann January (7)   United States Connecticut Sun Ariel Atkins (4)   United States Washington Mystics
Jonquel Jones (2)   Bahamas /
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Connecticut Sun Breanna Stewart (3)   United States Seattle Storm
Brianna Turner (2)   United States Phoenix Mercury Brionna Jones   United States Connecticut Sun
Sylvia Fowles (10)   United States Minnesota Lynx Brittney Griner (7)   United States Phoenix Mercury
2022[5][6] Natasha Cloud (2)   United States Washington Mystics Brittney Sykes (3)   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Ariel Atkins (5)   United States Washington Mystics Gabby Williams   France Seattle Storm
A'ja Wilson (2)   United States Las Vegas Aces Alyssa Thomas (4)   United States Connecticut Sun
Breanna Stewart (4)   United States Seattle Storm Jonquel Jones (3)   Bahamas /
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
Connecticut Sun
Sylvia Fowles (11)   United States Minnesota Lynx Ezi Magbegor   Australia Seattle Storm
2023[7][8] A'ja Wilson (3)   United States Las Vegas Aces Betnijah Laney (2)   United States New York Liberty
Alyssa Thomas (5)   United States Connecticut Sun Ezi Magbegor (2)   Australia Seattle Storm
Brittney Sykes (4)   United States Washington Mystics Nneka Ogwumike (6)   United States Los Angeles Sparks
Breanna Stewart (5)   United States New York Liberty Napheesa Collier (2)   United States Minnesota Lynx
Jordin Canada (2)   United States Los Angeles Sparks Elizabeth Williams (2)   United States Chicago Sky
2024[9][10] Napheesa Collier (3)   United States Minnesota Lynx Alyssa Thomas (6)   United States Connecticut Sun
A'ja Wilson (4)   United States Las Vegas Aces Alanna Smith   Australia Minnesota Lynx
Ezi Magbegor (3)   Australia Seattle Storm Nneka Ogwumike (7)   United States Seattle Storm
DiJonai Carrington   United States Connecticut Sun Jonquel Jones (4)   Bahamas /
  Bosnia and Herzegovina
New York Liberty
Breanna Stewart (6)   United States New York Liberty Natasha Cloud (3)   United States Phoenix Mercury

References

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  1. ^ "WNBA Unveils End-of-Season Awards Schedule and Announces New Process for Selecting All-Defensive Teams" (Press release). WNBA. August 30, 2023. Retrieved September 16, 2023.
  2. ^ a b Voepel, Mechelle (2020-09-29). "Storm's Clark tops WNBA all-defensive 1st team". ESPN.com. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  3. ^ "WNBA Defensive Player of the Year Natasha Howard Highlights 2019 WNBA All-Defensive First Team". wnba.com. WNBA. September 11, 2019. Retrieved September 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Voepel, Mechelle (September 26, 2021). "Minnesota Lynx star Sylvia Fowles named WNBA Defensive Player of Year for 4th time in career". ESPN. Retrieved September 26, 2021.
  5. ^ @WNBA (August 30, 2022). "Your 2022 #WNBA All-Defensive First Team ⬇️ @_ajawilson22 @T_Cloud4 @SylviaFowles @breannastewart @arielatkinssvn #MoreThan" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  6. ^ @WNBA (August 30, 2022). "Your 2022 #WNBA All-Defensive Second Team ⬇️ @athomas_25 @ezimagbegor @jus242 @BrittBundlez @gabbywilliams15 #MoreThan" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  7. ^ @WNBA (September 22, 2023). "Your 2023 WNBA All-Defensive First Team ⬇️ @_ajawilson22 @athomas_25 @BrittBundlez @breannastewart @jordin_canada #MoreThanGame" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  8. ^ @WNBA (September 22, 2023). "Your 2023 WNBA All-Defensive Second Team ⬇️ @BetnijahLaney @ezimagbegor @nnekaogwumike @PHEEsespieces @E_Williams_1 #MoreThanGame" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  9. ^ Maloney, Jack (September 29, 2024). "WNBA Defensive Player of the Year: Lynx's Napheesa Collier edges Aces star A'ja Wilson for first honor". CBS Sports. Retrieved September 29, 2024.
  10. ^ @WNBA (September 29, 2024). "Announcing the 2024 WNBA All-Defensive Teams" (Tweet) – via Twitter.