12 best WNBA players of all time

The WNBA is drawing unprecedented attention with a slew of current and rising stars like Caitlin Clark, Kahleah Copper, Sabrina Ionescu, Alyssa Thomas and more. But these up-and-comers will have to leapfrog some of the all-time greats to secure their place in league history. Here are the 12 best players who have ever played in the WNBA, including three who are still active today.

12. Tina Thompson

• Championships: 4
• All-Star selections: 9
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x8
• Awards: —
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Games (4), Minutes (3), 3PTM (5), Rebounds (8), Points (2)

Thompson is the original stretch big in the WNBA and one of the best complementary stars in league history. She was a key member of the Houston Comets who won the first four WNBA championships but played nine more seasons after that dynasty ended, joining both the Sparks and the Storm. She was almost never the best player on her team and never won an MVP, but she is still the second-leading scorer in league history and ranks in the top-10 all-time in both rebounds and 3-pointers made.

11. Breanna Stewart

• Championships: 2
• All-Star selections: 5
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x6, All-Defensive x5
• Awards: Rookie of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP x2
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: —

Stewart is still in her prime but has already established a legendary resume with a pair of championships (winning Finals MVP both times), and MVP and a slew of All-Star and All-WNBA selections. Her career averages — 20.7 points, 8.8 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.4 steals, 1.5 blocks, 35.1 percent from beyond the arc — reflect her absurd versatility. And her resume would look even more impressive if it weren't for A'ja Wilson — Stewart has finished No. 2 to her in MVP voting twice already.

10. A'ja Wilson

• Championships: 2
• All-Star selections: 5
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x4, All-Defensive x3
• Awards: Rookie of the Year, MVP x2, Defensive Player of the Year x2, Finals MVP
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: —

Like Stewart, Wilson may still have as much as a decade of great years ahead of her despite already establishing herself as one of the WNBA's all-time greats. She anchors the back-to-back defending champions has multiple MVPs and Defensive Player of the Year selections and is on a short list of just five players in league history to win both in the same year.

9. Sheryl Swoopes

• Championships: 4
• All-Star selections: 6
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x7, All-Defensive x2
• Awards: MVP x3, Defensive Player of the Year x3
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Steals (5)

Swoopes was another one of the WNBA's inaugural stars, winning four consecutive championships with the Houston Comets. However, her peak didn't overlap as neatly with that of the Comets — her first of two consecutive seasons winning both MVP and Defensive Player of the Year came in Houston's final championship season. She extended her career as a high-level role player but at her best she was unstoppable at both ends of the floor.

8. Cynthia Cooper

• Championships: 4
• All-Star selections: 3
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x4
• Awards: MVP x2, Finals MVP x4
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: —

Cooper's star burned brightly and quickly. In the WNBA's first four seasons, she won MVP twice, led the league in scoring three times and helped the Comets win four championships, taking home Finals MVP for all four runs. However, she was already 34 years old by the league launched and retired after that fourth title. She returned three years later for one more go round with Houston but only appeared in four games before retiring again. Her career scoring average of 21.0 points per game is still the best in league history and if the WNBA had been started a decade earlier she very well might be No. 1 on this list.

7. Maya Moore

• Championships: 4
• All-Star selections: 6
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x7, All-Defensive x2
• Awards: Rookie of the Year, Finals MVP, MVP
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: —

Maya Moore is another WNBA great whose resume is truncated — she retired after just eight seasons to use her platform to push for criminal justice reform. The shorter career means she never made any all-time leaderboards but she led the Minnesota Lynx to a title in half her seasons with two more losses in the WNBA Finals to boot. Nobody won like Maya Moore.

6. Lauren Jackson

• Championships: 2
• All-Star selections: 7
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x8, All-Defensive x5
• Awards: Defensive Player of the Year, MVP x3, Finals MVP
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Blocks (6)

Jackson has been lost to a history a bit with an impressive 12-year career that started after the WNBA's inaugural era and ended before the modern era of social media and ubiqitous access to broadcasts. She was a dynamic, floor-spacing big who led the Storm to a pair of titles, won both Defensive Player of the Year and MVP (three times) and helped the game evolve toward it's current style of play. She also retired when she was just 29 and could have accrued a lot more accolades if she had wanted to keep playing.

5. Sylvia Fowles

• Championships: 2
• All-Star selections: 8
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x9, All-Defensive x11
• Awards: Defensive Player of the Year x4, MVP, Finals MVP
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Rebounds (1), Blocks (4)

Fowles was an interior force who dominated the WNBA paint for 15 years. She was an intimidating shot-blocked (fourth all-time) and powerful rebounder (first all-time) who could contribute at the other end with strength, length and fantastic touch around the basket. She won Defensive Player of the Year four times and was selected to the All-Defensive team 11 times, but she also won an MVP and still has the highest career effective field goal percentage in league history.

5. Lisa Leslie

• Championships: 2
• All-Star selections: 8
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x12, All-Defensive x4
• Awards: MVP x3, Finals MVP x2, Defensive Player of the Year x2
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Rebounds (6), Blocks (2)

Leslie was perhaps the defining star of the WNBA's first era, often sharing top billing with Cynthia Cooper and Sheryl Swoopes. She played for 12 seasons and was an All-WNBA selection in every single one of them, leading the Sparks to two titles and picking up three MVPs and a pair of Defensive Player of the Year awards along the way.

4. Sue Bird

• Championships: 4
• All-Star selections: 13
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x8
• Awards: —
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Games (1), Minutes (1), 3PTM (2), Assists (1), Steals (3), Points (8)

Bird never won many individual awards but she was an essential piece on some of the best teams in league history and her longevity put her in the top-10 all-time in a slew of statistical categories including games, minutes, 3-pointers, assists, steals and points. She was an All-Star selection 13 times and helped lead the Seattle Storm to four titles with a span of 16 years between the first and the last. She was a teammate of both Breanna Stewart (No. 11 on this list) and Lauren Jackson (No. 6) and helped the Storm remain one of the league's best teams across the better part of two decades.

3. Diana Taurasi

• Championships: 3
• All-Star selections: 10
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x14
• Awards: Rookie of the Year, MVP, Finals MVP x2
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Games (2), Minutes (2), 3PTM (1), Assists (5), Points (1)

Taurasi is relentless and, between her versatility, efficiency, longevity and sky-high peak, is arguably the greatest offensive player in league history. She is No. 1 all-time in both poitns and 3-pointers made and fifth in assists. She has also won an MVP, been selected to the All-WNBA team 14 times and helped lead the Phoenix Mercury to three different titles.

2. Tamika Catchings

• Championships: 1
• All-Star selections: 10
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x12, All-Defensive x12
• Awards: Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year x5, MVP, Finals MVP
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Minutes (8), 3PTM (8), Rebounds (5), Assists (10), Steals (1), Points (3)

If Taurasi is the greatest offensive player in history, Catchings may very well be the other side of that coin. She was an absolutely suffocating defender for the Indiana Fever, selected for the All-Defensive team 12 teams, winning Defensive Player of the Year five teams and still holding the No. 1 spot on the all-time steals leaderboard by more than 300 steals, despite having retired in 2016. But Catchings wasn't just a defensive specialist — she also won an MVP, averaged 16.1 points and 3.3 assists per game, shooting 35.6 percent from beyond the arc across her 15-year career.

1. Candace Parker

• Championships: 3
• All-Star selections: 7
• All-League selections: All-WNBA x10, All-Defensive x2
• Awards: Rookie of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, MVP x2, Finals MVP
• Career Leaderboard top 10s: Rebounds (3), Assists (7), Blocks (5), Points (9)

Plausible arguments could be made for several different players to be in this top spot but it's hard to argue with Parker's versatility and track-record of success. LIke several players on this list, she won Defensive Players of the Year and MVP. She also won an MVP as a rookie. She also won a ring with three different teams (although she didn't play for the Aces during their 2023 championship run because of an injury). She also lands in the top-10 all-time in points, rebounds, assists and blocks.

Other players scored more or defended better, won more titles or more individual awards. But Candace Parker had a one-of-a-kind career that has a strong case as the best in WNBA history.