NEW YORK (AP) — A'ja Wilson is in a class by herself, winning the AP's WNBA Player of the Year award for an unprecedented third straight year.
Wilson received 15 of the 17 first-place votes from a national media panel Sunday. She topped Olivia Miles of Minnesota as well as Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell of Indiana, who all had stellar seasons.
“It’s big. It's an honor for me to do it three times in a row. It’s not easy,” Wilson said in a phone interview. “My counterparts in this league are really good. I don’t take it lightly because of how much talent we do have in this league."
It's the fourth time that Wilson has won the AP award, breaking a tie with Breanna Stewart for most since the awards were first given in 2016.
“That’s got a nice ring to it,” Wilson said. “That’s pretty cool.”
The AP voting is done by a 17-member panel that votes on the power poll each week. It’s the 11th year of the awards.
The WNBA will announce its postseason awards over the course of the playoffs, which begin Sunday. Wilson is a huge favorite to win the WNBA MVP for the third straight season.
Wilson once again led the league in scoring (26.2) while shooting nearly 53% from the field. She also averaged 9.4 rebounds, a career-best 3.2 assists and 1.9 blocks.
Angel Reese dethroned Wilson as the AP Defensive Player of the Year. Wilson had won the award in three of the last four seasons.
Reese made the most of her move to Atlanta this offseason. She was third in the league in steals and had the versatility to guard most positions defensively. She also topped the league in rebounds for the third consecutive season.
Miles had an incredible first season and was honored as the AP Rookie of the Year as a unanimous choice. The No. 2 pick in the draft by the Lynx averaged 19.8 points, 6.0 assists and 4.7 rebounds to help Minnesota finish with the best record in the league. She set the WNBA record for points by a rookie, surpassing Clark's from 2024.
Miles was joined on the AP All-Rookie team by Dallas' Azzi Fudd, Chicago's Sydney Taylor, Seattle's Flau'jae Johnson, New York's Pauline Astier and Toronto's Kiki Rice.
Wilson, Clark, Miles and Mitchell headlined the AP All-WNBA first team. They were joined by New York's Stewart. Reese was on the second team along with teammate Rhyne Howard, Dallas' Paige Bueckers, Las Vegas' Jackie Young and Golden State's Gabby Williams.
Other AP winners included:
— Coach of the Year: Cheryl Reeve. It's the third time the Lynx coach has won the award, also being honored in 2020 and 2024. She guided the team to the No. 1 seed in the playoffs while it was missing superstar Napheesa Collier for the first half of the season when she recovered from offseason surgery on both her ankles. Reeve beat out Golden State's Natalie Nakase and Washington's Sydney Johnson.
— Comeback Player of the Year: Clark. The Fever guard missed much of last season with a variety of injuries. She came back strong this year, playing in 40 games. She averaged 22.3 points, 8.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds. Washington's Georgia Amoore and Chicago's Courtney Vandersloot also received votes.
— Most Improved Player: Jessica Shepard. The Dallas Wings forward came to the team as a free agent and excelled. Shepard averaged career highs in points (14.5), rebounds (11.1), assists (5.3) and minutes (31.7). Shepard had six triple-doubles this season. Washington's Shakira Austin and Seattle Dominique Malonga were next in the balloting.
— Sixth Woman of the Year: Janelle Salaun. The Valkyries forward came off the bench in all 40 games she played this season and averaged 12.7 points and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 39.2% from behind the 3-point line. She led all reserves in scoring this season and the Golden State bench averaged over 36 points a game. Marine Johannes of New York was next in the voting.
See AP’s full WNBA coverage here
Minnesota Lynx head coach Cheryl Reeve and guard Olivia Miles (5) talk during the first half of a WNBA basketball game against the New York LibertyFriday, Sept. 18, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) passes the ballaround Minnesota Lynx forward Natasha Howard, right, during the first half of a WNBA basketball game, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Ellen Schmidt)
Las Vegas Aces center A'ja Wilson (22) shoots over Phoenix Mercury forward Marta Suarez during the second half of a WNBA basketball game, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2026, in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
MADRID (AP) — Protesters outraged by the eviction of an 87-year-old woman camped overnight in Madrid’s historic Puerta del Sol plaza, where more demonstrators — including multigenerational families — joined them on Sunday for a second day of protests over Spain’s housing crisis.
Tens of thousands marched through Madrid on Saturday to protest the eviction of María del Carmen Abascal from the apartment in the upscale Retiro neighborhood where she had lived for more than seven decades.
The demonstrators are demanding stronger tenant protections, measures to combat fraud and a ban on evictions when alternative housing is unavailable.
Many refused to leave after Saturday’s march and pitched tents in Puerta del Sol for the night.
“The wave of indignation and anger that has been unleashed is now unstoppable,” said Alicia del Río, a spokesperson for the Madrid Tenants’ Union, which led the protests.
“We will remain here” until the government passes new laws, including indefinite rental contracts, and stops evictions like Abascal’s, del Río told journalists at the plaza on Sunday. Spain's Socialist-led government is expected to announce new measures in its weekly cabinet meeting next Tuesday.
On Sept. 23, Abascal was carried from her apartment on a stretcher and placed in an ambulance as supporters — who had tried unsuccessfully to stop the eviction — chanted her nickname, “Maricarmen.”
“I haven’t managed to defend my home, but I have fought so that others can learn to fight for what’s theirs,” Abascal said in a video recorded from her hospital bed after the eviction.
Images of the eviction spread widely across Spain, fueling outrage and criticism of public authorities and real estate investment companies accused of pricing residents out of their homes. Critics often refer to such companies as “vulture funds.”
“Maricarmen has been, in a way, the last straw that sparked this social unrest,” said Simón de la Riva, 43, a teacher who took part in Saturday's protests.
Speaking at a Socialist Party rally in Madrid, Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez addressed Abascal directly: “I have a message for you, Maricarmen: the government is working around the clock to bring a Royal Decree on housing next Tuesday. And I ask parliamentary groups to make one last effort to have it validated in the National Parliament for Maricarmen.”
Abascal has criticized Sánchez and blamed him for her ordeal.
“Does he not realize the quantity of evictions that there are daily?” she asked during an interview with Spain’s state broadcaster RTVE the day before she was forcibly removed from her home. “Does he not realize, or does he not want to realize?”
Spanish media reported that Abascal’s father first rented the apartment in 1956 and that she remained there as a tenant under rent controls after her parents died.
The building changed ownership in 2018, and Abascal was offered the opportunity to buy the apartment but could not afford it, according to the Madrid Tenants’ Union.
Urbagestión, an investment fund that later bought the unit, raised her monthly rent from 500 euros ($570) to 2,650 euros. It subsequently lowered the rent to 1,650 euros, which Abascal still could not afford on her pension, the union said.
Rising costs and a housing shortage are pricing many Spaniards out of the market, despite strong economic growth in Europe’s fourth-largest economy. Incomes have not kept pace with the rising housing costs, and analysts say tourism and immigration-driven population growth in cities have placed further pressure on the limited housing supply.
The Bank of Spain estimated that the country had a shortage of about 550,000 homes last year, with Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia accounting for a substantial share.
The demonstrations in the symbolic Madrid plaza this weekend reminded many in Spain of the historic demonstrations starting May 15, 2011, when members of the “indignados movement” camped for 28 days straight, sparking similar sit-ins across the country and the world. That movement was a reaction to evictions and other issues following a global economic crisis, including unemployment, austerity measures and corruption.
Estefania Molina, a political scientist and columnist, said the stakes of popular frustration are growing. In 2011, "people protested because they couldn’t buy an apartment."
“Today, the protest is about not being able to rent a room in someone else’s home," she told Spanish television.
Spain ranks near the bottom of countries in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development for subsidized public rental housing, which represents less than 2% of the country's housing stock. The European Union average is 8%.
Brito reported from Barcelona, Spain. Associated Press journalist Suman Naishadham contributed to this report from Madrid.
People gather during a protest following the eviction last Wednesday of 87-year-old Maricarmen to demand stronger laws to protect renters at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
A woman holds a flare during a protest following the eviction last Wednesday of 87-year-old Maricarmen to demand stronger laws to protect renters at Puerta del Sol in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People gather during a protest following the eviction last Wednesday of 87-year-old Maricarmen to demand stronger laws to protect renters at Sol square in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
People set up tents during a protest following the eviction last Wednesday of 87-year-old Maricarmen to demand stronger laws to protect renters at Sol square in Madrid, Spain, Saturday, Sept. 26, 2026. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
