WNBA's greatest players of all time: Ranking the 30 best in 30-season history — SkimNews

Get the Sports newsletter
Daily sports — scores, transfers, the storylines from the leagues you actually follow. Free.
- ESPN surveyed 23 WNBA experts and selected the 30 highest vote-getters, with seven players on the list competing in the 2026 season.
- A'ja Wilson ranked No. 1 with 17 first-place votes; her résumé includes three championships, five MVPs, two Finals MVPs and a 22.05 career scoring average.
- Diana Taurasi finished No. 2 with five first-place votes, three titles and an MVP; her 10,000-plus career points leave her more than 2,000 ahead of Tina Charles.
- Maya Moore placed third after four championships in eight seasons, then stepped away following 2018 while still in her prime to help fight for criminal justice reform.
- Cynthia Cooper placed fourth with one first-place vote; four straight Comets championships and four Finals MVPs came in only four full WNBA seasons.
- Tamika Catchings ranked seventh as the only player to finish a season in the WNBA top 10 in points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks, doing so in 2002 and 2006; she won five Defensive Player of the Year awards.
- Jonquel Jones sits at No. 27; ESPN's 2021 top 25 omitted both her and Wilson, eventual MVP winners who have each won a WNBA title since that poll.
Why it matters: Wilson's 17 first-place votes establish a far clearer panel consensus than Taurasi's five or Cooper's one. That makes her the list's central figure, while the ranking preserves distinct standards of greatness: Taurasi's 10,000-plus scoring lead and Cooper's four consecutive titles support their different historical cases.
Ask SkimNews



