Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese won the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year award on Thursday, capturing 46 of 74 votes after leading the league in rebounding for the third consecutive season and anchoring one of the league’s top defensive units in her first year with the franchise.
Angel Reese secured the first major individual award of her WNBA career by claiming the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year honor on Thursday. The Atlanta Dream forward outpaced the rest of the ballot in a decisive voting outcome, pulling in 46 out of 74 total votes from the media panel.
Golden State Valkyries Gabby Williams finished as the runner-up in the voting with 20 selections. Three-time winner A’ja Wilson placed third with four votes, while Shakira Austin gathered two votes, and Veronica Burton and Rhyne Howard each received one vote.
Rebounding Records and Defensive Dominance in Atlanta
While Reese entered the league with a reputation as a dominant rebounder, this season marked her first time receiving defensive award recognition. She led the WNBA with 12.3 rebounds per game, according to reporting from Yahoo, while other league data pegged her average at 12.1 boards per contest across 43 games. Her physical presence on the glass shattered historical single-season marks.
She collected 521 total rebounds and 206 offensive rebounds, setting new WNBA single-season records in both categories. In August, she set the league’s single-game rebounding record by pulling down 26 boards against the Los Angeles Sparks. Beyond rebounding, her advanced metrics underlined her impact across the floor. She finished first in the WNBA with 3.39 Defensive Win Shares and fourth with a 100.0 defensive rating.
The Dream defense tightened significantly whenever she was on the court. Atlanta allowed 7.9 fewer points per 100 possessions with Reese active, marking the highest on-and-off defensive differential among the team’s rotation players. The frontcourt star also contributed offensively, averaging 16.4 points per game while shooting and defending across multiple positions.
Historic Milestones for the Atlanta Dream Franchise
Reese’s award makes her the first player in Atlanta Dream franchise history to win Defensive Player of the Year. Her arrival in the offseason—acquired via a trade with the Chicago Sky in exchange for two first-round draft picks—helped propel the team to an Eastern Conference-best 30-14 regular-season record, tying the franchise record for wins.
She is also the second former Louisiana State University star to earn the trophy, following Sylvia Fowles, who won the award four times. Reese’s defensive contributions complemented a disruptive backcourt rotation in Atlanta. Teammates Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada joined Reese near the top of the steals leaderboard, with Howard leading the league at 2.3 steals per contest and Canada right behind, fueling a Dream squad that allowed a league-low 9.5 second-chance points per game.
During the course of her standout campaign, Reese also earned WNBA Peak Performer honors as the league’s top rebounder and became the first player in franchise history to be named Eastern Conference Player of the Week in three consecutive weeks. She earned a selection to her third consecutive WNBA All-Star Game and won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2026 FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup in Berlin.
Reflecting on her teammates who helped anchor the defensive unit alongside her, Reese expressed gratitude for the collective effort.
I have the trophy, but I definitely want Jordin and Rhyne to sign it because I think they deserve it just as much as I do,Angel Reese, Atlanta Dream forward
She added: I’m grateful for Atlanta, I’m grateful for my teammates and my coaches and all the supporting staff that supports us. This is just the beginning.
Advancing to the WNBA Semifinals
The individual honor arrives just as the Dream push deeper into the postseason. Atlanta swept the Washington Mystics in the first round to reach the league semifinals for the first time under the current playoff format adopted in 2022. Reese contributed 13 points, 12 rebounds, two steals, and a block in the opening-round victory.
The fourth-seeded Dream host the eighth-seeded New York Liberty in the semifinals, giving Reese an immediate opportunity to chase a championship ring following her historic regular-season campaign.
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