The WNBA released its 2025 All-Defensive Teams on Wednesday, delaying the announcement more than a week amid the fallout from the viral takedown of league leadership by Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier.
Collier herself headlines the First Team, with Lynx teammate Alanna Smith, Phoenix Mercury standout Alyssa Thomas, Seattle Storm star Gabby Williams, and the Las Vegas Aces' four-time WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson joining the Minnesota star on the 2025 WNBA All-Defensive roster.
Second Team honors went to Indiana Fever center Aliyah Boston, the Golden State Valkyries' 2025 WNBA Most Improved Player Veronica Burton, Atlanta Dream guard Rhyne Howard, Seattle Storm forward Ezi Magbegor, and New York Liberty star Breanna Stewart.
The WNBA's first-ever co-Defensive Player of the Year award-winners Wilson and Smith put up leading individual stats throughout the 2025 season, with Wilson averaging a league-high 2.3 blocks along with 7.9 defensive rebounds per game while Smith averaged a team-high 1.3 steals and 1.9 blocks per game.
Collier averaged 1.6 steals and 1.5 blocks per game, contributing to Minnesota's league-best 97.5 defensive rating, while Williams tied for the second-most single-season steals with 99 — just one short of WNBA legend Teresa Weatherspoon's 1998 record.
In her debut year with the Mercury, Thomas became the first-ever WNBA player to average 15+ points, 8+ rebounds, 9+ assists, and 1+ steals per game while shooting over 50% from the field.
This year's Second Team featured three first-ever selections, with Boston, Burton, and Howard all making their All-Defensive Team debuts.
The 2025 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year race ended in a tie on Thursday, as dominant seasons at both ends of the court saw Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson and Minnesota Lynx forward Alanna Smith each receive 29 of the media panel's 72 total votes.
After finishing first this season in blocks per game (2.3), total rebounds (407), defensive rebounds (316), and combined steals and blocks (156), Wilson became just the fourth player in WNBA history named Defensive Player of the Year at least three times — adding this year's title to her previous 2022 and 2023 honors.
As for Smith, who picked up the award for the first time this year, the Lynx star ranked second overall in combined steals and blocks (135), third in both blocks per game (1.9) and total blocks (80), and tied for 10th in total steals (55) on the season.
Also snagging votes were Seattle Storm forward Gabby Williams, who came in second with nine votes, as well as Phoenix Mercury triple-double phenom Alyssa Thomas and fellow Minnesota Lynx star Napheesa Collier, who received three and two votes, respectively.
The win by both Wilson and Smith marks the first time in history that the WNBA Defensive Player of the Year honor has ended in a tie, reflecting both the top-notch level of talent on display across the league as well as the hyper-competitive nature of the 2025 end-of-year awards race on display across multiple categories.
Next up on the league's awards docket is Saturday's Sixth Player of the Year announcement, followed by the highly anticipated reveal of the 2025 WNBA MVP on Sunday.
The Indiana Fever lifted their first trophy since 2012 on Tuesday night, winning the 2025 WNBA Commissioner's Cup with a 74-59 upset victory over reigning Cup champs Minnesota — all while injured star guard Caitlin Clark watched from the sidelines.
To snag the win, Indiana leaned on balanced scoring, with forward Natasha Howard's 16-point, 12-rebound double-double leading the Fever's five double-digit shooters.
At the same time, the Fever employed a shutdown defense, limiting the Lynx to their lowest point total of the season.
Beyond the $500,000 payout, Tuesday's win gives the 8-8 Fever a momentum boost as the team continues contending with both high-profile departures and the limited availability of their floor general.
"We have a resilient group, you know?" Indiana head coach Stephanie White said after the game. "They're tough, mentally and physically, they pull for one another. I'm just really proud."
"It felt good to get a win under gut-check circumstances," echoed guard Kelsey Mitchell. "To have so much going on and still stay consistently for each other, it was beautiful. It felt really amazing."
As for the league-leading Lynx, the Commissioner's Cup loss won't impact Minnesota's regular-season WNBA standings — and they’ll hope to build on the learnings from last night's ego blow.
Minnesota also has a bit of history one their side, as the last two Commissioner's Cup runners-up went on to win the WNBA Championship in the same year.
"We have to take this game to heart and learn from the mistakes we made, the way we showed up, the way we prepared, and make sure we don't do it again," said Lynx center Alanna Smith.
How to watch the Indiana Fever, Minnesota Lynx this week
Neither 2025 Commissioner's Cup contender will have much time to reflect on Tuesday's game, as both Indiana and Minnesota will dive back into regular-season WNBA play on Thursday.
The Fever will host the Las Vegas Aces at 7 PM ET, airing on Prime, before the Washington Mystics visit the Lynx at 8 PM ET, with live coverage on WNBA League Pass.
The WNBA proved that any team can win on any day on Tuesday night, when all four games ended in underdog upsets, rattling the league standings.
While No. 12 Dallas quieted No. 4 Atlanta 68-55, Chicago was swapping spots with now-No. 11 LA, as the Sky snapped a three-game skid with a 97-86 win over the Sparks to claim 10th place on the table.
At the same time, Washington inched up from No. 9 to No. 8 by handing the league-leading Lynx a 68-64 defeat — just the second loss suffered by Minnesota this season.
The Indiana Fever also claimed a one-spot rise to No. 7 after snapping a two-game losing streak with a 94-86 defeat of No. 5 Seattle.
Bigs lead the charge in Tuesday's WNBA upsets
The overall stars of Tuesday's show were the bigs, as Indiana center Aliyah Boston put up 31 points, Chicago center Kamilla Cardoso recorded 27 points, and Minnesota center Alanna Smith dropped 26 of her own.
Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell matched Boston's efforts with her own 26-point showing, as the pair helped Indiana overcome forward DeWanna Bonner's now-permanent absence from the team, as well as another off-night from Caitlin Clark.
Led by Arike Ogunbowale's 21 points, Dallas benefitted from an unexpectedly shaky Atlanta side that shot just 23.4% from the field — the Dream's lowest shooting performance in franchise history and the worst single-game showing league-wide since 2010.
After starting the 2025 WNBA season 1-11, the Wings have now won three of their last four games.
The Mystics also came to play, edging out the once-unbeatable Lynx in a defensive battle that saw center Shakira Austin lead Washington with 19 points while Minnesota mainstay Napheesa Collier rode the bench due to lower back stiffness.
Meanwhile, with 11 points with 11 rebounds on the night, Washington rookie Kiki Iriafen claimed her fifth career double-double — more than the rest of the WNBA's Class of 2025 combined.
How to watch Wednesday's WNBA action
Wednesday's late-night, two-game bill provides yet another chance to shake up the WNBA standings.
With both matchups tipping off at 10 PM ET, the ailing New York Liberty will visit the rising Golden State Valkyries, airing on WNBA League Pass, while the last-place Connecticut Sun take on the up-and-down Las Vegas Aces on NBA TV.
The 2024 WNBA Finals set the stage for this season in more ways than one, as last year's title contenders — the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty — carry their winning ways into 2025.
The undefeated Lynx cruised to a 5-0 record on Tuesday, downing a surging Seattle Storm 82-77 behind 23 points from guard Courtney Williams.
The reigning champion Liberty are keeping pace at 4-0, earning their fourth win with a 95-67 Tuesday night takedown of 2025 expansion side Golden State. Forward Breanna Stewart's 24 points led New York past the Valkyries.
Liberty, Lynx standouts race up the 2025 WNBA stat sheet
While many WNBA teams spent the offseason instituting major coaching and roster shakeups, the Lynx and Liberty kept last year's lineups mostly intact.
Minnesota star forward Napheesa Collier currently dominates scoring on the WNBA stat sheet with 26.8 points per game, and her block and steal rates are in the league's Top-5.
Meanwhile, teammate Alanna Smith also tops the leaderboard thanks to a 62.5% field goal percentage, and sits in fourth for both block and three-point rates.
The Liberty's Kennedy Burke has also been lights-out, leading the league in three-point percentage at 63.6% while shooting 60.9% from the field — good for fourth on the stat sheet.
Proving New York's few offseason moves were effective is 2025 Liberty addition Natasha Cloud, who sits in second with 8.3 assists per game. At the same time, the team as a whole is outpacing the rest of the league in field goal percentage (49.8%), as well as points (94), assists (25.3), and blocks (6.0) per game.
The league's top dogs won't clash on the court until July 30th — but early odds of a 2024 WNBA Finals rematch closing out the 2025 season grow stronger by the day.