The WNBA announced Thursday that Angel Reese is the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year, and the vote wasn’t close.

Reese received 46 of 74 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Golden State Valkyries star Gabby Williams finished second with 20 votes, while last season’s co-DPOY winner A’ja Wilson received four votes. Washington’s Shakira Austin and Sonia Citron, Golden State’s Veronica Burton and Atlanta’s Rhyne Howard each received one vote.

Reese led the league in rebounding for the third straight season — 521 boards at 12.1 per game — and anchored an Atlanta Dream defense that earned the No. 4 seed and a first-round sweep of the Washington Mystics.

Hoops fans erupted online at the news. “Angel Reese is the best defensive player in the WNBA, it’s that simple… DPOY,” one fan posted. Others noted the timing: Reese went 2-0 in the playoffs this week, reaching the second round before her longtime rival Caitlin Clark, whose Fever were pushed to a winner-take-all Game 3 against the Aces.

The award caps a remarkable playoff debut for the third-year forward, who never reached the postseason in her first two seasons with the Chicago Sky. Reese recorded a 13-point, 12-rebound double-double in her postseason debut on Sunday, then helped the Dream close out Washington 93-75 in Game 2 to reach the semifinals for the first time in eight years.

Reese was also named to the AP All-WNBA Second Team this week, alongside Rhyne Howard, Paige Bueckers, Jackie Young and Gabby Williams. Clark took Comeback Player of the Year honors on the same awards weekend.

Sources: WNBA announcement via Sportskeeda (Oct 1, 2026); ESPN playoff results. Stats as reported.