A'ja Wilson unanimously named WNBA MVP, the third MVP award for the Las Vegas Aces star

This time there was no vote for fourth place.

A'ja Wilson is the second player in WNBA history to unanimously win the Most Valuable Player award, the league announced Sunday ahead of the first playoff games. The Las Vegas Aces forward received all 67 first-place votes from a national panel of sports journalists and commentators, earning 670 points.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier finished second with 66 of 67 votes and 467 points. New York forward Breanna Stewart (295 points), Indiana Fever point guard Caitlin Clark (130) and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (83 points) rounded out the top five.

It is the third MVP award for Wilson, who also won in 2020 and 2022. Last year, she finished third in one of the closest votes in WNBA history and was upset that a voter had placed her fourth on the five-player MVP ballot. She wore the total number of votes on a T-shirt celebrating the Aces' second consecutive title and used that as fuel to dominate this season with one of the best performances in league history.

Cynthia Cooper-Dyke is the only other player to win the award unanimously, doing so in the league's inaugural season in 1997. Wilson is the fourth player in WNBA history to be named MVP three times; Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson all have three MVP awards to their name.

Wilson has undoubtedly had an incredible season, averaging 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds and 2.6 blocks per game. Two weeks ago, Wilson broke the league's single-season scoring record and became the first player to reach 1,000 points in a season. Her scoring average surpassed the record of 25.3 points per game set by Diana Taurasi in 2006, and she did it with a league-leading 51.8% shooting percentage. She is the first player to lead the league in total points, rebounds and blocks in a season.

Her season highlights are a list of records, from the two highest-scoring games of the season (42 and 41 points) to the most consecutive games with 20 or more points. She scored at least 20 points in all but four of the Aces' games, another record, and posted the highest season average of defensive rebounds per game (9.8).

Her increased performance was necessary for an Aces team that, unlike years past, experienced ups and downs throughout the season. She was the lone offense most nights and often single-handedly led the team to victory. The Aces are the No. 4 seed, the first time they've been outside the top three since 2019. The 2018 Rookie of the Year was named an All-Star for the sixth time in her seven-year career (there were none in 2020) and won a second Olympic gold medal with Team USA in Paris. History will look back on her last three years as one of the greatest periods for a basketball player.

The Aces will face the Storm in the first round on Sunday. Sabrina Ionescu (Liberty), Nneka Ogwumike (Storm), Kahleah Copper (Mercury), Arike Ogunbowale (Wings), Jonquel Jones (Liberty), Kelsey Mitchell (Fever), Angel Reese (Sky), Dearica Hamby (Sparks), DeWanna Bonner (Sun) and Kayla McBride (Lynx) all made it onto at least one MVP ballot.