If there needed to be more evidence that defense will define these WNBA Finals, the 2026 WNBA All-Defensive Teams provided it, as three members of the Atlanta Dream and three members of the Golden State Valkyries combined to claim six of the 10 spots.
Defensive Player of the Year Angel Reese headlines the All-Defensive First Team, where she is joined by Dream teammate Rhyne Howard. Jordin Canada was elected to the Second Team.
Gabby Williams, the Defensive Player of the Year runner up, secured a spot on the First Team, and two Valkyries, Veronica Burton and Kiah Stokes, represent Golden State on the Second Team.
The All-Defensive selection is a first for Reese. Both Howard and Burton earn their second-straight and second-overall defensive honors, while Stokes, after a more than decade gap, receives her second All-Defensive nomination, with her first earned in 2015 as member of the New York Liberty. Williams and Canada are now three-time All-Defensive honorees. Williams, then with the Seattle Storm, was awarded in 2022 and 2025; Canada got the nods in 2019 with the Storm and in 2023 with the Los Angeles Sparks.
Filling out the First Team alongside Reese, Howard and Williams were the Las Vegas Aces’ A’ja Wilson and Washington Mystics’ Shakira Austin. It’s the sixth All-Defensive selection for the three-time Defensive Player of the Year Wilson, whereas Austin is a first-time nominee.
Austin’s Mystics teammate, Sonia Citron, also earned her first All-Defensive award as a member of the Second Team. Rounding out the Second Team of Canada, Burton, Stokes and Citron is Breanna Stewart, with this marking the eighth All-Defensive award for the Liberty stalwart.
