Over the last few days, there’s been a lot of talk about the MVP “conversation” and who might be included in it.
MVP TALK: Mychal Thompson makes a terrible argument for Caitlin Clark here
Really, the discussion begins and ends with A’ja Wilson. If anybody else’s name is mentioned, it’s simply not a serious conversation. That’s how good the Aces’ superstar has been this season.
She’s not just having one of the greatest seasons in WNBA history. There’s a stat out there that says she’s having the greatest season in WNBA history.
Through 33 games with the Aces this season, Wilson has the highest single-season player efficiency rating (PER) in the history of the WNBA, according to data from Basketball-Reference. PER is a statistic that summarizes player impact in a single number. It essentially turns box score numbers into a player rating while accounting for pace and per-minute production.
Wilson’s current single-season PER is 36.66, which ekes out Lauren Jackson’s 35.04 from the 2007 WNBA season. It also surpasses Wilson’s mark of 32.86 from last season when she was the MVP runner-up.
But, folks. Wait. There’s more. Not only is this the highest PER in WNBA history, but it’s also the highest ever recorded between the NBA and WNBA. It beats Nikola Jokic’s 32.85 by quite a bit.
No stat is truly the end-all, be-all to any conversation. Like any stat, player efficiency rating is flawed. It’s a catch-all stat that doesn’t accurately measure defensive impact. It’s also important to note that it was built for the NBA game. It doesn’t consider that games are 40 minutes in the WNBA instead of 48 like the NBA. It also doesn’t have WNBA pace baked into it.
But as far as catch-all statistics go, this is a solid one — albeit a bit dated. It’s given us a solid metric to reference when discussing player value and efficiency through the years.
It does the same here for the WNBA. The best single-season PER marks have been posted by the best players in the league’s history. And, here, it’s saying Wilson is the most valuable player of all.
Make of that what you will.
