The Women's National Basketball Association's Rookie of the Year Award is an annual Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) award given since the 1998 WNBA season, to the top rookie of the regular season. The winner is selected by a panel of sportswriters throughout the United States, each of whom casts a vote for first, second and third place selections. Each first-place vote is worth five points; each second-place vote is worth three points; and each third-place vote is worth one point. The player(s) with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.
The 2003 award winner Cheryl Ford and 2011 award winner Maya Moore are the only players to win both the WNBA Rookie of the Year award and a WNBA championship in the same season.
The 2008 award winner was Candace Parker who became the first player to win the award after garnering all possible votes and also the first player to win the WNBA Most Valuable Player Award in the same season. In the NBA, only Wilt Chamberlain and Wes Unseld have won the Most Valuable Player Award and Rookie of the Year Award in the same season.
The 2020 award winner, Crystal Dangerfield, is the first who was not chosen in the first round of the draft; she was chosen in the second round in 2020 as the 16th overall pick.
As of 2019, eight Rookie of the Year recipients have gone on to become a member of a WNBA championship team.
Winners
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders"
|+Key
|-
!scope="row" border:1px style="background-color:#CFECEC; width:6em"| ^
|Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA
|-
!scope="row" border:1px style="background-color:#FFFF99; width:6em"| *
|Elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame as player
|-
!scope="row" style="background-color:#FFE6BD; border:1px width:6em"|
|Inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame
|-
|style="background:#CCFF99; width:1em"|†
|Not yet eligible for Hall of Fame consideration<!--
|-
|style="background:#F0E130; width:1em"|§
|1st time eligible for Hall of Fame in 2025-->
|-
|Player<br><small>(in bold text)</small>
|Denotes unanimous winners
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Rookie of the Year
|-
!scope="col"| Season
!scope="col"| Player
!scope="col"| Position
!scope="col"| Nationality
!scope="col"| Team
!scope="col"| School
!scope="col"| Pick
!scope="col"| Year
!scope="col" class="unsortable" |
|-
| 1998
| Tracy Reid
| rowspan=2| Forward
| rowspan=28|
| Charlotte Sting
| UNC <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 7
| 1998
|
|-
| 1999
| style="background-color:#FFFF99| Chamique Holdsclaw*
| Washington Mystics
| Tennessee <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 1999
|
|-
| 2000
| Betty Lennox
| rowspan=2| Guard
| Minnesota Lynx
| Louisiana Tech <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 6
| 2000
|
|-
| 2001
| Jackie Stiles
| Portland Fire
| Missouri State <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 4
| 2001
|
|-
| 2002
| style="background-color:#FFFF99"| Tamika Catchings*
| rowspan=2| Forward
| Indiana Fever
| Tennessee <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 3
| 2001
|
|-
| 2003
| Cheryl Ford
| Detroit Shock
| Louisiana Tech <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 3
| 2003
|
|-
| 2004
| style="background-color:#CCFF99"|Diana Taurasi<sup>†</sup>
| rowspan=2| Guard
| Phoenix Mercury
| UConn <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2004
|
|-
| 2005
| Temeka Johnson
| Washington Mystics <small>(2)</small>
| LSU <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 6
| 2005
|
|-
| 2006
| style="background-color:#FFFF99"| Seimone Augustus*
| Guard/Forward
| Minnesota Lynx <small>(2)</small>
| LSU <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2006
|
|-
| 2007
| Armintie Price
| Guard
| Chicago Sky
| Ole Miss <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 3
| 2007
|
|-
| 2008
| style="background-color:#FFFF99"| Candace Parker*
| Forward/Center
| Los Angeles Sparks
| Tennessee <small>(Jr.)</small>
| 1
| 2008
|
|-
| 2009
| style="background-color:#CCFF99"| Angel McCoughtry<sup>†</sup>
| Forward
| Atlanta Dream
| Louisville <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2009
|
|-
| 2010
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Tina Charles^
| Center
| Connecticut Sun
| UConn <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2010
|
|-
| 2011
| style="background-color:#FFFF99"| Maya Moore*
| rowspan=2| Forward
| Minnesota Lynx <small>(3)</small>
| UConn <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2011
|
|-
| 2012
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Nneka Ogwumike^
| Los Angeles Sparks <small>(2)</small>
| Stanford <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2012
|
|-
| 2013
| style="background-color:#FFFF99"| Elena Delle Donne*
| Guard/Forward
| Chicago Sky <small>(2)</small>
| Delaware <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 2
| 2013
|
|-
| 2014
| style="background-color:#CCFF99"| Chiney Ogwumike<sup>†</sup>
| Forward
| Connecticut Sun <small>(2)</small>
| Stanford <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2014
|
|-
| 2015
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Jewell Loyd^
| Guard
| Seattle Storm
| Notre Dame <small>(Jr.)</small>
| 1
| 2015
|
|-
| 2016
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Breanna Stewart^
| Forward/Center
| Seattle Storm <small>(2)</small>
| UConn <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2016
|
|-
| 2017
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Allisha Gray^
| Guard
| Dallas Wings <small>(2)</small>
| South Carolina <small>(Jr.)</small>
| 4
| 2017
|
|-
| 2018
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| A'ja Wilson^
| rowspan=2| Forward
| Las Vegas Aces
| South Carolina <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2018
|
|-
| 2019
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Napheesa Collier^
| Minnesota Lynx <small>(4)</small>
| UConn <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 6
| 2019
|
|-
| 2020
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Crystal Dangerfield^
| Guard
| Minnesota Lynx <small>(5)</small>
| UConn <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 16
| 2020
|
|-
| 2021
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Michaela Onyenwere^
| Forward
| New York Liberty
| UCLA <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 6
| 2021
|
|-
| 2022
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Rhyne Howard^
| Guard
| Atlanta Dream <small>(2)</small>
| Kentucky <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2022
|
|-
| 2023
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Aliyah Boston^
| Forward/Center
| Indiana Fever <small>(2)</small>
| South Carolina <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2023
|
|-
| 2024
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Caitlin Clark^
| rowspan=2|Guard
| Indiana Fever <small>(3)</small>
| Iowa <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2024
|
|-
| 2025
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| Paige Bueckers^
| Dallas Wings <small>(3)</small>
|UConn <small>(Sr.)</small>
| 1
| 2025
|
|}
Teams
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Awards
! Teams
! class="unsortable" |Years
|-
| align=center|5
| Minnesota Lynx
| , , , ,
|-
| rowspan=2 align=center|3
| Indiana Fever
| , ,
|-
| Dallas Wings / Tulsa Shock / Detroit Shock
| (as Detroit)<br>, (as Dallas)
|-
| rowspan=6 align=center|2
| Washington Mystics
| ,
|-
| Chicago Sky
| ,
|-
| Los Angeles Sparks
| ,
|-
| Atlanta Dream
| ,
|-
| Connecticut Sun / Orlando Miracle
| , (as Connecticut)
|-
| Seattle Storm
| ,
|-
| rowspan=5 align=center|1
| Charlotte Sting
|
|-
| Portland Fire
|
|-
| Phoenix Mercury
|
|-
| Las Vegas Aces / San Antonio Stars /<br>San Antonio Silver Stars / Utah Starzz
| (as Las Vegas)
|-
| New York Liberty
|
|-
| rowspan=4 align=center|0
| Cleveland Rockers
| rowspan=4| N/A
|-
| Houston Comets
|-
| Miami Sol
|-
| Sacramento Monarchs
|}
See also
- List of sports awards honoring women