Angel Reese is the 2026 WNBA Defensive Player of the Year, and not everyone agrees she should be. The Atlanta Dream forward received 46 of 74 votes from a national media panel when the league announced the award Thursday, Oct. 1. Golden State’s Gabby Williams finished second with 20 votes, and Las Vegas star A’ja Wilson, a three-time winner, got four.
Within hours, the win became a full-blown debate. Supporters pointed to Reese’s record-setting rebounding and relentless defense. Critics, led by an OutKick column, argued that media voters had rewarded hype over results. Meanwhile, Reese was in tears as her mother surprised her with flowers and the trophy in front of her teammates.
Both sides are using numbers to make their case. The real story is how much those numbers disagree with each other.
What is the case for Angel Reese?
Reese had a historic season. She led the league with 12.1 rebounds per game and set single-season records with 521 total rebounds, 206 offensive rebounds and 32 double-doubles. She also posted a career-high 1.8 steals per game, third in the league behind teammates Rhyne Howard and Jordin Canada.
Her work on the glass helped Atlanta allow a league-low 9.5 second-chance points per game. Several voters cited how much better the Dream’s defense looked with her on the floor.
Reese also shared the credit. She said she wanted Canada and Howard to sign her trophy because they earned it too, and she called the award just the beginning.
From one Angel to another 😇
Angel Reese’s mom does the honors of surprising her with the 2026 @Kia Defensive Player of the Year Award! #KIADPOY | #WNBASeason30 pic.twitter.com/TrtzIuhnxh
— WNBA (@WNBA) October 1, 2026
What is the case against Angel Reese?
Critics start with A’ja Wilson. The Aces center led the league in blocks for a fifth straight season, averaging 1.9 a game to Reese’s 0.7. She also edged Reese in defensive rebounds per game. Wilson topped the league in defensive VPM, an advanced stat that estimates how many points a player prevents. Two voters who picked Reese acknowledged that in their own explanations.
Gabby Williams had a strong argument too. She regularly guarded opponents’ best scorers for Golden State’s top-ranked defense, and the WNBA’s own awards preview cited tracking data ranking her first in points allowed per possession.
The OutKick column also noted that Atlanta went 30 and 14 in both 2025 and 2026, and that its defensive rating actually slipped after Reese arrived. The column itself acknowledged that comparisons across seasons involve many moving parts.
Why do the numbers disagree so much?
Here is the part fans are missing. The on and off court stat many voters leaned on, which compares Atlanta’s defense with Reese playing and sitting, changes depending on who pulled it. One voter cited a gap of 15.5 points. Another cited 13. The Dream’s own announcement listed 7.9.
Even the simpler stats don’t line up. USA Today reported that Reese ranked third in defensive win shares, while the OutKick column said she led the league. Atlanta’s defensive ranking has been reported as both second and third.
When three trusted sources produce three different answers, the vote reflects which numbers each voter trusted as much as it reflects the basketball.
Why does Angel Reese draw this much heat?
Few players spark arguments like Reese. Since her LSU days, she has been praised as a star and attacked as overrated, often in the same breath. Black women athletes who carry themselves with confidence often face this kind of scrutiny, where every honor gets audited and every celebration gets called a problem.
That doesn’t make the questions about her defense off limits. The debate over Wilson and Williams is a fair one, and good voters disagree. But how fiercely this particular award gets picked apart says something about the player as much as the stats.
What has Angel Reese accomplished this year?
The 24-year-old has had a career year. She won gold with Team USA at the FIBA Women’s World Cup in Berlin in September, when the U.S. beat France 97 to 79 in the final. Her first signature shoe, the Reebok Angel Reese 1, launched in September 2025. She is also in her first playoff run, after Atlanta swept Washington 93 to 75 in Game 2 to reach the semifinals for the first time since 2018.
Where will the DPOY debate be settled?
Not on social media. Reese and the Dream open the semifinals at home against the New York Liberty on Sunday, Oct. 4. The Liberty became the first No. 8 seed to knock off a No. 1 seed in league history.
Voters handed Reese the trophy based on the regular season. In a series where every rebound and every stop counts, the player at the center of the argument gets the chance to make her own case.
