The WNBA's first end-of-season accolade was awarded on Monday, with Veronica Burton of the Golden State Valkyries being honoured as the league's Most Improved Player. Burton secured 68 out of 72 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. She was the only player from the expansion team to participate in all 44 games this season.
Burton's performance this season was remarkable. She ranked third in the league with an average of 6.0 assists per game and achieved personal bests with averages of 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game. This marked her most successful season in her four-year WNBA career.
Previously, Burton played for the Connecticut Sun, where she averaged just 3.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists
last season. Her move to Golden State saw her become the first player in WNBA history to increase her averages by at least five points, two rebounds, and two assists from one season to the next.
Veronica Burton of the @valkyries is your 2025 WNBA KIA Most Improved Player! Burton embraced a new opportunity in Golden State, and went from 3.1 PPG, 1.4 RPG, 1.9 APG and 0.5 SPG a szn ago to averaging career-highs of 11.9 PPG, 4.4 RPG, 6.0 APG and 1.1 SPG 👏 #KIAMIP | @KIA pic.twitter.com/KQD6bCTpTk
- WNBA (@WNBA) September 15, 2025
Burton was initially drafted seventh overall by the Dallas Wings in the 2022 WNBA Draft and spent two seasons there before being waived and joining the Sun in June 2024. Later that year, she was selected by the Valkyries as their third pick in the WNBA Expansion Draft.
With Burton leading them, Golden State achieved a record-breaking season for an expansion team by winning 23 games and becoming the first such team to reach the play-offs in their debut year.
The eighth-seeded Valkyries began their play-off journey with a loss against top-seeded Minnesota Lynx, ending at 101-72 on Sunday. Despite this setback, Burton tied for a team-high score with 14 points but also had seven turnovers among Golden State's total of sixteen.
The second game of their best-of-three first-round series is set for Wednesday at Golden State's home court, with a potential third game scheduled for Friday in Minnesota if needed.
