Aces F Alysha Clark Named Sixth WNBA Player of the Year

Las Vegas Aces forward Alysha Clark was named the sixth WNBA Player of the Year on Monday.

Clark, an 11th-year pro, won the award in his first season off the bench after becoming a full-time starter early in his career. Clark averaged 6.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 1.1 assists while shooting 38.6% from 3-point range in 22.5 minutes per game for Las Vegas in the regular season.

She is the No. 1 option off the bench for the defending champions, who earned the top playoff seed and advanced to the semifinals after sweeping the Chicago Sky in the best-of-three first-round series. She scored 14 points in Sunday’s series decider against Chicago.

He played in 39 regular season games for the Aces and came off the bench in 38 games. His minutes became even more valuable for the Aces after Candace Parker underwent surgery for a broken left foot and was ruled out indefinitely.

Clark earned 35 of 50 first-place votes for the award, beating out Connecticut Sun wing DiJonai Carrington (13 votes) and Sky guard Dana Evans (nine votes). Dallas Wings center Kalani Brown, New York Liberty guard Marine Johannès and Seattle Storm guard Sami Whitcomb each received one vote.

Clark has made the all-defensive team twice in his career. The Aces also have a history of winning Sixth Player of the Year awards, as Kelsey Plum (2021) and Dearica Hamby (2020, 2019) also earned the honor.

The Aces will face the winner of the first-round series between the Wings and Atlanta Dream in the semifinals. The Wings have a 1-0 lead in the series with Game 2 scheduled for Tuesday at 9 pm ET (ESPN). The semifinals begin Sunday in Las Vegas.