Who finished Top 3 in WNBA MVP voting in 2023?

After an intense three-way battle for the 2023 WNBA MVP award, New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart emerged victorious on Tuesday. Stewart narrowly beat out Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas and Las Vegas Aces forward A'ja Wilson to secure the honor.

Stewart finished with 446 points in what proved to be a historically close MVP race. The Liberty star was followed by Thomas in second place (439 points) and Wilson in third place (433 points).

The win marked Stewart’s second MVP after she previously took home the award in 2018 as a member of the Seattle Storm. With this year’s win, Stewart has also become the first-ever Liberty player to win MVP.

A'ja Wilson, on the other hand, was gunning for her third MVP after previously winning the award in 2020 and 2022. This would have made her the fourth three-time MVP in WNBA history and the second player to win back-to-back MVPs. Meanwhile, Alyssa Thomas is still in search of her first MVP.

Brianna Stewart averaged 23.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, 3.8 assists, 1.5 steals, 1.6 blocks and 2.1 3-pointers per game on 46.5% shooting over 40 games. She led the Liberty to the second-best record in the league at 32-8.

Thomas averaged 15.5 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 7.9 apg, 1.8 spg and 0.5 bpg on 47.4% shooting over 40 games. She led the Sun to the third-best record in the league at 27-13.

Wilson averaged 22.8 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.4 spg and 2.2 bpg on 55.7% shooting over 40 games. She led the Aces to the WNBA’s best record at 34-6.

Breanna Stewart won the 2023 WNBA MVP despite not getting the most first-place votes

WNBA stars Breanna Stewart and Alyssa Thomas

Per ESPN, the 2023 WNBA MVP race marked the second time in league history that the winner did not finish with the most first-place votes. Breanna Stewart finished with 20 first-place votes compared to Alyssa Thomas’ 23. However, Stewart still finished with more total points after racking up more second-place and third-place votes than Thomas.

The last time this occurred came in 2005 when WNBA legend Sheryl Swoopes won MVP with 16 first-place votes compared to runner-up Lauren Jackson's 20.

So, it appears that the 2023 WNBA MVP race truly came down to the final few votes among the 60 experts who voted on the award.