BATON ROUGE, La. – Former LSU star and current Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese has been named the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, the league announced Thursday.
She has won the award for the first time and became the first Dream player to earn the honor. It marks the fifth time an LSU Tiger has earned the honor, joining Sylvia Fowles who was named WNBA Defensive Player of the Year four times.
Reese received 46 votes from a national panel of 74 sportswriters and broadcasters. Golden State Valkyries forward Gabby Williams finished in second place with 20 votes, followed by Las Vegas Aces center-forward A’ja Wilson in third with four votes.
In her third WNBA season and first with the Dream, Reese ranked third in the WNBA in both steals per game (1.8) and total steals (77), setting career highs in both categories. She also finished third in total defensive rebounds (315) and led the league with 12.1 rebounds per game.
Behind Reese, Atlanta ranked third in the WNBA in defensive rating (103.5). Her rebounding helped the Dream allow a league-low 9.5 second-chance points per game.
Reese set WNBA single-season records with 521 total rebounds and 206 offensive rebounds, becoming the first player in league history to reach 500 rebounds in a season. She also grabbed a WNBA-record 26 rebounds in a road victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Aug. 24.
The 6-4 Reese posted a WNBA single-season record of 32 double-doubles and was one of only two players to average a double-double this season. She averaged a career-high 16.4 points per game and earned her third consecutive WNBA All-Star selection.
Reese closed the regular season by earning Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors in three consecutive weeks. She helped Atlanta finish 30-14 and secure the No. 4 seed in the WNBA Playoffs. The Dream are set to host the No. 8-seeded New York Liberty in the Semifinals on Sunday, Oct. 4.