The Golden State Valkyries are great.
One of the big surprises of the WNBA season, the Valkyries are the No. 2 seed in their second season as a franchise. They have been dominating the league with one of the best defense in the league, which has completely troubled the opponents throughout the season.
Gabby Williams joined the team this year and has performed brilliantly on both ends of the court, especially on defense. His speed, length, instincts and strength on the perimeter and getting around in the paint is truly unique. She’s a worthy candidate for Defensive Player of the Year — but she won’t win.
The reason? The Golden State Valkyries are great.
Gabby Williams deserves Defensive Player of the Year
First of all, Williams fully deserves to win the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award. He is one of the best perimeter defenders in the league, blocking opponents with his length and forcing them to take terrible shots or pass out of his attack.
She also manages to cause chaos by causing steals that provoke the Valkyries’ infection attack (she leads the league in steal rate). To find top-notch evidence of this, watch highlights from the Valkyries’ stunning last-second comeback win over the Los Angeles Sparks on the final night of the season. Williams stole the ball and then pushed the ball herself, taking it to the rim for a layup that cut the lead to two in the final minute.
Williams combines turnover creation with preventing opponents from cold shooting, and she does the same when she moves around in the paint. His impact is amazing, and his agility and length allow him to guard all five positions at times. Player tracking stats work great Picking up on that impact and highlighting how good Williams has been.
That influence helped propel the Valkyries to incredible heights. They finished 32–12, one win behind the first-place Minnesota Lynx, and had the league’s best net rating. Their defense was not only the best in the West by a mile, but it was also the best compared to the league average. WNBA history.
The Golden State Valkyries not only led the WNBA in defensive rating (99.1), but relative to league average (~9.6 points stingier), they had the greatest defensive season in league history.
You can’t stress enough how ridiculous this is.
– Nekias (noah-KAI-US) Duncan (@NekiasNBA) 25 September 2026
Gabby Williams is arguably the best defender in the league and has undoubtedly the best defense in WNBA history. They should be contenders for the award. What is the problem?
The Valkyries appear to be Very Good.
Voters aren’t going to elect Gabby Williams
As media outlets publish their picks for Defensive Player of the Year, each player’s chances of winning a certain award come into focus. Of course, not all voters will do this, but it’s a pretty strong barometer of who should be the favorite for each award.
A’ja Wilson is going to win MVP – no surprise. Olivia Miles is the obvious choice for Rookie of the Year. There is likely to be more competition between Coach of the Year and Most Improved.
And for Defensive Player of the Year, Angel Reese is receiving the majority of votes from public ballots and media outlets.
athletic Reese was overwhelmingly chosen for the award. as did cbs And sb nation. Bleacher Report Shakira chose Austin. Of the major outlets surveyed, only ESPN gives award to Gabby Williams.
Reese is definitely a dominant defender who deserves a lot of praise, and she’s on the ballot battling with players like A’ja Wilson, Aliyah Boston, Veronica Burton, and Austin.
Why are so many voters choosing Reese? They point to his rebounding (really elite) and his steal rate (very strong, of course, but a result of Atlanta’s defensive scheme – three Dream players rank in the top 5). However, the main reason he cited was that the Dream are very poor on defense when Reese is off the court.
When Williams leaves the court, elite defenders are on the court. When Reese walked off the court, Dream had no answer. It shows Reese’s ability to lift up his teammates, yes, but he’s not a better defender than Williams because their team contexts are different.
Reese’s cases also ignore his prodigious foul rate; He leads the league in fouls, often resulting in free points for the opposing team. Williams is nowhere near the league leaders at that position. And overall, the Dream have a very good defense, but with or without Reese this season, it’s nowhere near the level of play the Valkyries have.
Gabby Williams deserves Defensive Player of the Year. The Valkyries have the best defense in league history, and he’s a versatile lynchpin for that group — and yes, surrounded by other great defenders. He should not be punished for this.
But it will happen. And it appears Williams will lose the award she deserves, not because she is a worse defender, but because a stat out of her control favors Reese. This will be disappointing for Williams and Valkyries fans
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