Overview

• First Team: Napheesa Collier (Lynx), Alanna Smith (Lynx), A’ja Wilson (Aces), Gabby Williams (Storm), Alyssa Thomas (Mercury).
• Second Team: Breanna Stewart (Liberty), Veronica Burton (Valkyries), Rhyne Howard (Dream), Ezi Magbegor (Storm), Aliyah Boston (Fever), with Stewart earning the nod despite 13 missed games and a top-10 defensive rating.
• Collier and Smith became the first pair of Lynx teammates to receive All-Defensive First Team honors in the same season, with Smith sharing 2025 Defensive Player of the Year with Wilson.
• Seattle’s Gabby Williams made the First Team after leading the league at 2.3 steals per game and finishing just shy of the single-season steals record.
• The announcement arrived after an expected Oct. 1 timeline, with outlets noting but not confirming speculation that the delay was tied to recent public remarks by Collier.