View source for WNBA Most Improved Player

{{WNBA Awards}}
The '''Women's National Basketball Association's Most Improved Player Award''' is an annual [[Women's National Basketball Association]] (WNBA) award given since the [[2000 WNBA season]], to the most improved player 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 with the highest point total, regardless of the number of first-place votes, wins the award.

In [[2019 WNBA season|2019]], [[Leilani Mitchell]] became the first player in history to win the award twice, after winning the award in 2010. In [[2004 WNBA season|2004]], there was a tie -- both [[Kelly Miller (basketball)|Kelly Miller]] and [[Wendy Palmer]] received the award. [[Nicole Powell]], [[Natasha Howard (basketball)|Natasha Howard]], and [[Jackie Young]] are the only players to win the Most Improved award and a WNBA title in the same year.

==Winners==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
| style="background-color:#CFECEC; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| 
|Denotes player who is still active in the WNBA
|-
| style="background-color:#FFFF99; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| 
|Inducted into the [[Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame]]
|-
| style="background-color:#FFE6BD; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| 
|Inducted into the [[Women's Basketball Hall of Fame]]
|-
| style="background-color:#FFCC00; border:1px solid #aaaaaa; width:6em"| 
|Denotes player whose team won championship that year
|-
|Player (X)
|Denotes the number of times the player has won
|-
|Team (X)
|Denotes the number of times a player from this team has won
|}

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
!scope="col" width="5%"| Season
!scope="col"| Player
!scope="col" width="3%"| {{nowrap|Yrs}}{{efn|Played in league (including season in which award was given to player)}}
!scope="col" width="10%"| Position
!scope="col"| Nationality
!scope="col"| Team
!scope="col" width="12%"| First-Place Votes
!scope="col" width="1%" class="unsortable" | Ref.
|- 
| [[2000 WNBA season|2000]]
| [[Tari Phillips]]
| 2
| [[Forward-center|Forward / Center]]
| {{USA}}
| [[2000 New York Liberty season|New York Liberty]]
| 19 out of 62
| <ref>{{cite web|title=2000 WNBA Season Awards |url=https://www.wnba.com/awards2000 |website=WNBA |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|- 
| [[2001 WNBA season|2001]]
| style="background-color:#FFE6BD"| [[Janeth Arcain]]
| 5
| rowspan=2| [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| {{BRA}}
| [[2001 Houston Comets season|Houston Comets]]
| 25 out of 60
| <ref>{{cite web|title=Houston's Arcain is 2001 Most Improved Player |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/news/improved01_arcain.html |website=WNBA |date=August 18, 2001 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|- 
| [[2002 WNBA season|2002]]
| [[Coco Miller]]
| rowspan=2| 2
| rowspan=9 | {{USA}}
| [[2002 Washington Mystics season|Washington Mystics]]
| 14 out of 60
| <ref>{{cite web|title=2002 WNBA Season Awards |url=https://www.wnba.com/awards2002 |website=WNBA |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|- 
| [[2003 WNBA season|2003]]
| [[Michelle Snow]]
| [[Forward-center|Forward / Center]]
| [[2003 Houston Comets season|Houston Comets]] <small>(2)</small>
| 22 out of 53
| <ref>{{cite web|title=2003 WNBA Season Awards |url=https://www.wnba.com/awards2003 |website=WNBA |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|- 
| rowspan=2|[[2004 WNBA season|2004]]
| [[Kelly Miller (basketball)|Kelly Miller]]
| 4
| [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| [[2004 Indiana Fever season|Indiana Fever]]
| rowspan=2| 9 out of 48 (tie)
| rowspan=2| <ref>{{cite web|title=Connecticut's Wendy Palmer and Indiana's Kelly Miller Named Co-Recipients of 2004 WNBA Most Improved Player Award |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/news/mostimproved_2004.html |website=WNBA |date=September 27, 2004 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[Wendy Palmer-Daniel|Wendy Palmer]]
| 8
| rowspan=3| [[Forward (basketball)|Forward]]
| [[2004 Connecticut Sun season|Connecticut Sun]]
|- 
| style="background-color:#FFCC00"| [[2005 WNBA season|2005]]
| [[Nicole Powell]]
| 2
| [[2005 Sacramento Monarchs season|Sacramento Monarchs]] 
| 20 out of 49
| <ref>{{cite web|title=Sacramento's Nicole Powell Named 2005 WNBA Most Improved Player |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/features/awards05_mostimproved.html |website=WNBA |date=September 2, 2005 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2006 WNBA season|2006]]
| [[Erin Buescher]]
| 5
| [[2006 Sacramento Monarchs season|Sacramento Monarchs]] <small>(2)</small>
| 28 out of 56
| <ref>{{cite news |title=Buescher wins most improved player award |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/news/story?id=2554906 |work=[[ESPN]] |date=August 19, 2006 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2007 WNBA season|2007]]
| [[Janel McCarville]]
| 3
| [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| [[2007 New York Liberty season|New York Liberty]] <small>(2)</small>
| 33 out of 51
| <ref>{{cite web|title=New York's Janel McCarville Named 2007 WNBA Most Improved Player |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/news/awards07_mostimproved.html |website=WNBA |date=August 24, 2007 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2008 WNBA season|2008]]
| [[Ebony Hoffman]]
| 5
| rowspan=2| [[Forward (basketball)|Forward]]
| [[2008 Indiana Fever season|Indiana Fever]] <small>(2)</small>
| 31 out of 44
| <ref>{{cite news |title=Hoffman easily wins WNBA's most improved award|url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/news/story?id=3598242 |work=[[ESPN]] |publisher=Associated Press |date=September 19, 2008 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2009 WNBA season|2009]]
| [[Crystal Langhorne]]
| 2
| [[2009 Washington Mystics season|Washington Mystics]] <small>(2)</small>
| 19 out of 40 
| <ref>{{cite news |title=Langhorne receives most improved |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/news/story?id=4482737 |work=[[ESPN]] |date=September 17, 2009 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2010 WNBA season|2010]]
| [[Leilani Mitchell]]
| rowspan=2| 3
| [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| {{AUS}}{{efn|name=Mitchell|Leilani Mitchell was born as a [[Multiple citizenship|dual citizen]] of the [[United States]] and [[Australia]]. She represents Australia internationally.<ref>FIBA World Championship for Women. [https://web.archive.org/web/20140418234640/http://www.fiba.com/pages/eng/fe/14/wcw/news/p/nid/70964/article.html ''Joyce thrilled to get Mitchell on board''].Retrieved 2014-04-18</ref>}} 
| [[2010 New York Liberty season|New York Liberty]] <small>(3)</small>
|  29 out of 39 
| <ref>{{cite web|title=Leilani Mitchell Named 2010 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year Presented By Kia Motors |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/liberty/news/mitchell_mostimproved2010.html |website=WNBA |date=August 26, 2010 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2011 WNBA season|2011]]
| [[Kia Vaughn]]
| [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| {{USA}}{{efn|Kia Vaughn was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of the [[Czech Republic]]. She has represented the Czech Republic internationally since 2017.}}
| [[2011 New York Liberty season|New York Liberty]] <small>(4)</small>
| 15 out of 40
| <ref>{{cite news |title=Kia Vaughn wins most improved award |url=https://www.espn.com/new-york/story/_/id/6983488/new-york-liberty-kia-vaughn-receives-most-improved-award |work=[[ESPN]] |publisher=Associated Press |date=September 17, 2011 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2012 WNBA season|2012]]
| [[Kristi Toliver]]
| 4
| rowspan=3|[[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| {{USA}}{{efn|Kristi Toliver was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of [[Slovakia]]. She has represented Slovakia internationally since 2014.<ref>Washington Post. [https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/othersports/kristi-tolivers-career-speaks-volumes-about-life-as-a-womens-basketball-player/2014/08/01/87d354c6-197b-11e4-88f7-96ed767bb747_story.html].Retrieved 2019-11-24</ref>}}
| [[2012 Los Angeles Sparks season|Los Angeles Sparks]]
| 24 out of 41 
| <ref>{{cite news|title=Sparks' Toliver named WNBA Most Improved Player |url=https://www.abc10.com/article/sports/wnba/sparks-toliver-named-wnba-most-improved-player/103-364767509 |work=ABC 10 |date=September 27, 2012 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2013 WNBA season|2013]]
| [[Shavonte Zellous]]
| 5
| {{USA}}{{efn|Shavonte Zellous was born in the United States and is a naturalized citizen of [[Croatia]]. She has represented Croatia internationally since 2015.<ref>Indianapolis Star. [https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/2015/05/20/shavonte-zellous-miss-time-fever-play-croatia/27675317/].Retrieved 2019-11-24</ref>}}
| [[2013 Indiana Fever season|Indiana Fever]] <small>(3)</small>
| 30 out of 39
| <ref>{{cite web|title=Shavonte Zellous Named 2013 WNBA Most Improved Player of the Year |url=https://www.wnba.com/archive/wnba/fever/news/shavonte_zellous_mip_2013.html |website=WNBA |date=September 22, 2013|access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2014 WNBA season|2014]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Skylar Diggins-Smith]]
| 2
| rowspan=2|{{USA}}
| [[2014 Tulsa Shock season|Tulsa Shock]]
| 29 out of 38
| <ref>{{cite magazine |title=Skylar Diggins Named 2014 WNBA Most Improved Player |url=https://www.slamonline.com/archives/skylar-diggins-2014-wnba-improved-player/ |magazine=[[Slam (magazine)|Slan]] |date=August 27, 2014 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2015 WNBA season|2015]]
| [[Kelsey Bone]]
| 3
| [[Center (basketball)|Center]]
| [[2015 Connecticut Sun season|Connecticut Sun]] <small>(2)</small>
| 14 out of 39
| <ref>{{cite web|title=Kelsey Bone Named 2015 WNBA Most Improved Player Presented By Samsung |url=https://sun.wnba.com/news/kelsey-bone-named-2015-wnba-improved-player-presented-samsung/ |website=WNBA |date=October 1, 2015 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2016 WNBA season|2016]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Elizabeth Williams (basketball)|Elizabeth Williams]]
| rowspan=2| 2
| rowspan=2| [[Forward-center|Forward / Center]]
| {{USA}}{{efn|Elizabeth Williams was born in the [[United Kingdom]] and is a naturalized citizen of the United States. She has represented the United States internationally since 2009.<ref>USA Basketball. [https://web.archive.org/web/20150727011455/http://www.usab.com/history/u16-womens/first-fiba-americas-u16-championship-for-women-2009.aspx].Retrieved 2019-11-24</ref>}}
| [[2016 Atlanta Dream season|Atlanta Dream]]
| 14 out of 39
| <ref>{{cite news |title=Elizabeth Williams named WNBA Most Improved Player |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/17600263/elizabeth-williams-atlanta-dream-named-2016-wnba-most-improved-player |work=[[ESPN]] |date=September 21, 2016 |access-date=September 26, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2017 WNBA season|2017]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Jonquel Jones]]
| {{BAH}}{{efn|Jonquel Jones was born in the [[Bahamas]] and is a naturalized citizen of [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]. She has represented Bosnia and Herzegovina internationally since 2019.<ref>Nassau Guardian. [https://thenassauguardian.com/2019/02/04/jonquel-jones-to-compete-for-bosnia/].Retrieved 2019-11-24</ref>}}
| [[2017 Connecticut Sun season|Connecticut Sun]] <small>(3)</small>
| 32 out of 40
| <ref>{{cite web |title=Connecticut's Jonquel Jones Named 2017 WNBA Most Improved Player |url=https://www.wnba.com/news/connecticuts-jonquel-jones-named-2017-wnba-improved-player/amp |website=WNBA |date=September 10, 2017 |access-date=September 25, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| style="background-color:#FFCC00"| [[2018 WNBA season|2018]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Natasha Howard (basketball)|Natasha Howard]]
| 5
| [[Forward (basketball)|Forward]]
| {{USA}}
| [[2018 Seattle Storm season|Seattle Storm]]
| 29 out of 39
| <ref>{{cite press release |title=Storm’s Natasha Howard named 2018 WNBA Most Improved Player |url=https://pr.nba.com/storms-natasha-howard-named-2018-wnba-most-improved-player/ |website=NBA Communications |date=August 26, 2018 |access-date=September 25, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2019 WNBA season|2019]]
| [[Leilani Mitchell]] <small>(2)</small>
| 11
| [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| {{AUS}}{{efn|name=Mitchell}} 
| [[2019 Phoenix Mercury season|Phoenix Mercury]] 
| 27 out of 43
| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wnba.com/news/leilani-mitchell-named-2019-wnba-most-improved-player/|title=Leilani Mitchell Named 2019 WNBA Most Improved Player|website=wnba.com|publisher=WNBA|access-date=September 18, 2019|date=September 18, 2019}}</ref>
|-
| [[2020 WNBA season|2020]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Betnijah Laney]]
| rowspan=2| 5
| [[Forward (basketball)|Forward]] / [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| rowspan=3| {{USA}} 
| [[2020 Atlanta Dream season|Atlanta Dream]] <small>(2)</small>
| 25 out of 47
| <ref>{{cite news |first=Michael |last=Voepel |author-link=Michael Voepel |title=Dream's Betnijah Laney named WNBA's Most Improved Player |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/29962080/dream-betnijah-laney-named-wnba-most-improved-player |work=[[ESPN]] |date=September 24, 2020 |access-date=September 25, 2024}}</ref>
|-
| [[2021 WNBA season|2021]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Brionna Jones]]
| [[Forward (basketball)|Forward]]
| [[2021 Connecticut Sun season|Connecticut Sun]] <small>(4)</small>
| 38 out of 49
| <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.wnba.com/news/connecticut-sun-brionna-jones-named-2021-kia-most-improved-player/|title=Connecticut Sun Brionna Jones Named 2021 KIA Most Improved Player|website=wnba.com|publisher=WNBA|date=September 28, 2021|access-date=September 28, 2021}}</ref>
|-
| style="background-color:#FFCC00"| [[2022 WNBA season|2022]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Jackie Young]]
| rowspan=3 | 4
| [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| [[2022 Las Vegas Aces season|Las Vegas Aces]]
| 32 out of 56
|<ref>{{cite press release|url=https://aces.wnba.com/news/jackie-young-named-2022-kia-wnba-most-improved-player/|title=Jackie Young Named 2022 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player|location=New York, NY|website=wnba.com|publisher=WNBA|date=August 29, 2022|access-date=August 29, 2022}}</ref>
|-
| [[2023 WNBA season|2023]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[Satou Sabally]]
| [[Forward (basketball)|Forward]]
| {{DEU}}{{efn|Satou Sabally was born in the United States to [[The Gambia|Gambian]] and [[Germany|German]] parents, and is a citizen by birth of all three countries. She represents Germany internationally.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.si.com/wnba/2020/08/27/satou-sabally-dallas-wings-oregon-rookie-year |title=Satou Sabally Is a Unicorn |first=Erica |last=Ayala |work=Sports Illustrated |date=August 27, 2020 |access-date=August 27, 2020}}</ref>}}
| [[2023 Dallas Wings season|Dallas Wings]]
| 37 out of 60
|<ref>{{cite press release |url=https://www.wnba.com/news/2023-kia-wnba-mip-poy |title=Dallas Wings' Satou Sabally Named 2023 KIA WNBA Most Improved Player |publisher=WNBA |date=September 21, 2023 |access-date=September 21, 2023}}</ref>
|-
| [[2024 WNBA season|2024]]
| style="background-color:#CFECEC"| [[DiJonai Carrington]]
| [[Guard (basketball)|Guard]]
| {{USA}}
| [[2024 Connecticut Sun season|Connecticut Sun]] <small>(5)</small>
| 28 out of 67
| <ref>{{cite news|title=Sun guard DiJonai Carrington wins WNBA Most Improved Player award |url=https://www.espn.com/wnba/story/_/id/41438382/sun-guard-dijonai-carrington-wins-wnba-most-improved-player-award|work=[[ESPN]] |publisher=Associated Press |date=September 25, 2024 |access-date=September 25, 2024}}</ref>
|}
;Notes
{{notelist}}

==See also==
* [[List of sports awards honoring women]]

==References==
*{{cite web | url=http://www.wnba.com/history/most_improved.html | title=WNBA Most Improved Player Award| access-date=January 19, 2009 }}
{{reflist}}

{{WNBA Most Improved Player Award}}
{{WNBA}}

[[Category:Awards established in 2000]]
[[Category:WNBA awards|Most Improved]]
[[Category:Most improved awards]]