I believe the regular-season MVP award should go to the best individual player, regardless of wins and losses.
However, when it comes to Finals MVP, I believe only the games a player’s team wins should be taken into account when judging candidates. We don’t need to know who put up the best stats in losses, or who is considered the best or most talented player. That’s what we have the regular-season MVP award, as well as All-WNBA and All-Star honors, for.
The Finals MVP awards should be strictly about
contributing to winning—in the Finals.
With that in mind, here are my top four MVP candidates for each team in the 2026 WNBA Finals, with the Golden State Valkyries leading the Atlanta Dream 3-2 ahead of Thursday afternoon’s Game 6.
In the comments, let us know how you currently evaluate the race for Finals MVP.
Golden State Valkyries
1. Kiah Stokes
I think Stokes should be considered the frontrunner for Finals MVP among the Valkyries.
When adding up Stokes’ points, rebounds, assists (x 1.5) steals and blocks in Golden State wins, her stat score is third on Golden State with a per game score of 23.3. That’s not too far behind No. 1 Gabby Williams (27.8) and No. 2 Veronica Burton (25.2). She’s also the Valkyries’ only significant contributor who is shooting well from the field (61 percent), and she’s 3-for-7 from 3.
Her blocks have been key in raising her stat score, but she’s also averaging 8.7 points in wins, which is pretty good in this low-scoring series. She also hauled in 16 rebounds (eight defensive, eight offensive) in the Game 4 win.
Her biggest contribution—and the reason I feel she must be the frontrunner—has been shutting down Angel Reese. Reese has had two big games and Atlanta won both of them. But in the Valkyries’ three wins, Stokes has been the hero for her defense on Reese.
2. Gabby Williams
The only true scoring outburst for Golden State in this series was Williams’ 26-point performance in Game 1. Her 6-for-6 effort from the charity stripe over the final 2:15 of that four-point win was super clutch.
The next highest scoring output for a Valkyrie was 17 points, which also belongs to Williams (Game 4). Gabby is also posting two steals per game in wins and, like all the Valkyries, brings defense that doesn’t show up in the box score.
She is shooting just 32 percent from the field and 14 percent from 3, though, and it’s Stokes’ defense on Reese that has been the most important aspect of the series.
3. Veronica Burton
Burton’s field goal efficiency of 28 percent is actually lower than that of Williams and she isn’t shooting much better from beyond the arc (20 percent).
However, she scored the Valkyries’ final six points of Game 4, hitting a 3 that gave them a nine-point lead with 4:23 to go, a fadeaway in the paint that secured a seven-point lead with 34 seconds left and a free throw at 27 seconds remaining that increased the lead to five.
She has been one of the most clutch players for Golden State in these Finals and she’s bounced back from quiet Games 1 and 3 to score 13 points both Games 4 and 5. She also made some history with her four blocks in Game 5.
4. Tiffany Hayes
While Burton registered the final six GSV points of Game 4, it was Hayes who scored the 11 before that to allow the Valkyries to maintain a comfortable cushion.
With a stat score of 18.3, she’s within shouting distance of Williams, Burton and Stokes. A big Game 6 or 7 with more clutch plays could put her in the Finals MVP conversation.
Atlanta Dream
1. Angel Reese
Reese has the highest stat score in wins out of any player in these Finals at 48.5, way ahead of second-place Jordin Canada (33). She had 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2 and 21 and 12 in Game 3, with shooting splits of 60.7 percent from the field, 100 percent from 3 (3-for-3) and 87.5 percent on free throws across the two contests.
Angel remains the most feared player in this series despite being held to single-digit scoring in both Games 4 and 5.
Her dominance in Games 2 and 3 helped guide the Dream to comfortable wins. Atlanta owns the one blowout of the series (Game 3’s 97-71 rout), which leaves hope that they can still be the champions when it’s all said and done. Dream fans hope Reese will have something to say about the outcome of Game 6, and Game 7 if it occurs.
2. Jordin Canada
I think it’s still possible for a different Dream player to catch Reese with big-time performances in Games 6 and 7.
Canada is the top candidate. She had 10 assists in Game 2 and eight in Game 3. Her distributing rarely fails her; she has registered at least four helpers in all 10 playoff games and all but three regular season contests, with an average of 6.8 in the Finals.
From Game 2 of Atlanta’s first-round series through the end of the semifinals, Canada shot 12-for-21 (57.1 percent) from distance. In the Finals, she’s 4-for-20 (20 percent). If that doesn’t improve, she’s almost certainly not going to challenge Reese for MVP, despite the assists.
3. Rhyne Howard
Howard scored 19 and 20 points in Games 4 and 5, respectively, but I can’t take that into account because those games resulted in losses. She only scored five points in the Game 2 win. However, she dropped 16 points in Game 3, and notched six steals in Game 2 and five steals in Game 3. Her stat score in wins is 24.5.
4. Allisha Gray
Gray’s stat score is 22.3. Like Howard, she had a big scoring outing in one of the wins (18 points in Game 2) and a single-digit performance in the other (eight points in Game 3). Neither she nor Howard is shooting very efficiently from the field or from 3.
However, they were arguably the biggest stars on the Dream until Angel made it clear in the postseason that she is the best player on the team, and they were the team’s top two scorers in the regular season.
On any given night Rhyne or Lish could be the best player on the floor. If one of them, or Canada, has monster Games 6 and 7 and Reese struggles, they will be in the MVP conversation.
