The 2023 WNBA regular season that saw historic campaigns from the Las Vegas Aces and the New York Liberty has come to a close. With that, an epic month of women's hoops should be on the docket until the third week of October as the WNBA Playoffs commence on September 13. This season has been largely dominated by the star-studded squads of the defending champion Aces and the surging Liberty. As such, the race for WNBA MVP has become an all-time two-way tango between the leaders of both teams — Las Vegas' A'ja Wilson, the reigning award winner, and New York's Breanna Stewart, the 2018 MVP. With the regular season done, let's take a peek at the 2023 WNBA MVP Power Rankings.

1. A'ja Wilson

A'ja Wilson has taken over Breanna Stewart in most sportsbooks as the odds-on favorite to win her second straight WNBA MVP award. Much of the MVP spotlight throughout the regular season was on Stewart to bag her second MVP trophy, but Wilson's play over the last couple of weeks may have cemented the Aces superstar's case to win the third of her career.

In the last five games of the regular season, the Vegas forward averaged 29.0 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 3.0 blocks while shooting over 67 percent from the field. This doesn't even include her WNBA record-tying 53-point explosion over three weeks ago versus the Atlanta Dream.

The lefty played the entire 40-game slate of the regular season to lead the Aces to a league-leading 34-6 record. She finished with averages of 22.8 points, 9.5 rebounds, and a league-leading 2.2 blocks while making 55.7 percent of her field goals — all of which were career highs.

Wilson, who is also the reigning Defensive Player of the Year, led the Aces to the best offensive and defensive rating in the league.

2. Breanna Stewart

As mentioned, Breanna Stewart was mostly in the lead as the favorite to win WNBA MVP after leading the New York Liberty to a franchise record 32 wins in the regular season. Though Wilson has supplanted her in most sportsbooks, Stewart definitely still has a strong case to win her second MVP award five years after she bagged her first one.

In her first season in New York, Stewart averaged a career-best 23.0 points per game, to go along with 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 1.6 blocks. Stewie also set the WNBA record for most points in a season last week, before her former Seattle Storm teammate Jewell Loyd stole the distinction in their final game of the regular season.

Nonetheless, Stewart still has the second-most points in a single-season in WNBA history with 919. Though that particular record may not be hers, the Liberty superstar did set her own by tallying four 40-point games this season.

Stewart's case over Wilson is the fact that New York actually had Las Vegas' number this season. The regular season series was tied at 2-2, but the Liberty edged the Aces in the Commissioner's Cup and they did so in convincing fashion to the tune of an 82-63 beatdown of the defending champs.

3. Alyssa Thomas

As much as this a tight two-way WNBA MVP race between A'ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart, it will also be hard to ignore just how terrific of a campaign Alyssa Thomas of the Connecticut Sun is having.

Many naysayers thought the Sun would just crumble to the bottom of the league standings following the departure of former MVP Jonquel Jones, who went to New York. But Thomas took it upon herself to carry last year's WNBA Finalists this 2023 season.

Connecticut's strong campaign has been overshadowed by New York and Las Vegas' records, but Thomas has done a tremendous job leading the Sun to a similarly impressive 27-13 season. The Sun forward has slowly creeped into the MVP conversation with averages of 15.5 points, 9.9 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.8 steals.

Thomas set all sorts of records this season. She tallied a league-record six triple-doubles and became the first player ever to notch at least 600 points, 400 rebounds, and 300 assists in a single season. She also led the league in total assists with 317 dimes and is the first player ever to lead the league in both rebounds and assists in a season.

 

4. Sabrina Ionescu

Not to be completely overshadowed by her superstar teammate, Sabrina Ionescu has been just as important for the Liberty's success as Breanna Stewart. Ionescu is putting up 17.0 points per game with 5.0 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

She is also absolutely torching the net from beyond the arc with a three-point shooting percentage of 44.8 percent, which is easily a career-high clip. If Ionescu's record three-point contest performance from All-Star Weekend isn't enough indication, all signs pointed to her setting the league's single-season record for most three-pointers. The 25-year-old drained 128 triples this season to help the Liberty secure the second-best record in the league.

5. Jackie Young

Jackie Young just had the best regular season of her career. Young is the team's third-leading scorer at 17.6 points per game, just behind Kelsey Plum at 18.7 points.

Though Plum is the second-leading scorer, Young has been way more efficient in putting up points on the board for the league-leading Aces. Appearing in all 40 games this season, the 25-year-old shot 52.3 percent from the field. She also led the league in three-point percentage at 44.9 percent.

Her name may not carry the same kind of star power that Wilson, Plum, or even Chelsea Gray have, but Jackie Young is slowly emerging as one of the Aces' top aces.

WNBA MVP Pick to Win: A'ja Wilson

The 2023 WNBA MVP should be A'ja Wilson's trophy to take home. She obviously has the edge with the better team record as well as Vegas having the top offense and defense in the entire league. The Aces superstar has also been so dominant over the last few weeks and I think this has separated her from Stewart. If you're still not convinced, just watch her masterful 53-point performance against Atlanta.