Washington Mystics star Elena Delle Donne has been named the 2019 WNBA Most Valuable Player, the league announced on Thursday.
A seven-year veteran, Delle Donne has won her second MVP award and become the first player in WNBA history to earn the honor with two different teams. The 30-year-old was also selected as MVP in 2015 as a member of the Chicago Sky.
Delle Donne now joins five other WNBA players to have multiple MVP trophies: three-time winners Lauren Jackson, Lisa Leslie and Sheryl Swoopes, and two-time winners Cynthia Cooper and Candace Parker.
The Delaware native is also the first Mystics player to earn the award. She received 41 of 43 first-place votes and a total of 420 points from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner was the runner-up for the award, trailing with 167 points. Jonquel Jones of the Connecticut Sun (145 points) was third, followed by Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike (128) and Seattle Storm forward Natasha Howard (121).
Delle Donne was second in the WNBA in scoring with 19.5 points, fifth in rebounding with 8.3 rebounds and 11th in blocked shots with 1.29 rejections while playing 31 games this season. The 6-foot-5 dynamo became the first player in WNBA history to join the mythical 50-40-90 club, shooting 51.5% from the field, 43% from 3-land and an automatic 97.4% from the free-throw line.
The Mystics star posted the highest free-throw percentage ever for a player with at least 100 attempts, knocking down 114-of-117 and making her last 64 attempts of the regular season. Delle Donne also ranked seventh in the league in field goal percentage and fourth in 3-point field goal percentage.
A six-time All-Star, Delle Donne swept all three of the Eastern Conference Player of the Month honors, also being named the WNBA Eastern Conference Player of the Week seven times, matching Tina Charles’ record for the most Player of the Week honors in a conference for a WNBA season.
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