🏀 WNBA's greatest players of all time: Ranking 30 best in history — SkimNews
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- ESPN surveyed 23 WNBA experts and selected the 30 highest vote-getters for its all-time ranking, including seven players who competed in the 2026 season.
- A'ja Wilson claimed No. 1 with 17 first-place votes, three championships (2022, 2023, 2025), five MVPs through 2026 and two Finals MVPs, after being the most debated omission from ESPN’s 2021 top-25 list.
- Diana Taurasi finished second with five first-place votes, three titles and the 2009 MVP, while becoming the WNBA’s all-time leading scorer with more than 10,000 points—over 2,000 ahead of Tina Charles.
- Maya Moore ranked third with four championships in eight seasons (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017) and the 2014 MVP, then stepped away after 2018 in her prime to help fight for criminal justice reform.
- Cynthia Cooper placed fourth with one first-place vote, four straight championships (1997-2000), two MVPs and four Finals MVPs despite a WNBA tenure of only four full seasons; she was already 34 when the league started.
- Tamika Catchings ranked seventh, won the 2012 title and 2011 MVP, and remains the only player to finish a season in the league’s top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, a feat she did twice.
- Lisa Leslie ranked fifth with two championships, three MVPs and two Finals MVPs, and became the first player to dunk in a WNBA game; the Sparks unveiled her statue outside Crypto.com Arena in September.
Why it matters: A’ja Wilson’s rise from omission on ESPN’s 2021 top-25 list to No. 1 on 17 first-place votes shows how decisively her three titles and five MVPs changed the panel’s judgment. Diana Taurasi’s 2,000-plus-point scoring advantage and Cynthia Cooper’s four straight titles also give retired and early-era stars a durable place in WNBA history.
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