NEW YORK – The WNBA today unveiled the announcement schedule for its official 2023 end-of-season awards and announced a new process for the selection of the All-Defensive Teams.

The WNBA will present 12 end-of-season awards following the conclusion of the 2023 regular season: All-WNBA Teams; Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year; Kia WNBA Most Improved Player; Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player; Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year; Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year; Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award; WNBA All-Defensive Teams; WNBA All-Rookie Team; WNBA Coach of the Year; WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year; and the WNBA Peak Performers.

A national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters will submit votes for 10 of the 12 season-ending awards. The Basketball Executive of the Year honor is selected by the league’s general managers, and the Peak Performers awards are presented to the regular-season statistical leaders in points per game, rebounds per game and assists per game.

The WNBA has established the following schedule for the announcement of the 2023 end-of-season awards (the WNBA regular season concludes on Sunday, September 10):

Mon.      Sept. 11      WNBA Peak Performers

Thu.       Sept. 14      WNBA Basketball Executive of the Year

Sun.       Sept. 17      WNBA Coach of the Year

Mon.      Sept. 18      Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year

Thur.      Sept. 21      Kia WNBA Most Improved Player

Tue.       Sept. 26      Kia WNBA Most Valuable Player

Mon.      Oct. 2          Kia WNBA Rookie of the Year and WNBA All-Rookie Team

Thu.       Oct. 5          Kia WNBA Defensive Player of the Year and WNBA All-Defensive First and Second Teams

Fri.         Oct. 13        All-WNBA First and Second Teams

Tue.       Oct. 24        Kim Perrot Sportsmanship Award

*Dates subject to change

In addition, the WNBA announced that voting for the 2023 WNBA All-Defensive Teams will be conducted without regard to a player’s position. Prior to this season, voters were required to select two guards, one center and two forwards for both the All-Defensive First Team and Second Team. This same change to positionless voting was implemented last year for the selection of the All-WNBA First Team and Second Team.

“After consulting with our teams, we believe this change gives us an opportunity to simply honor the 10 most deserving defensive players,” said WNBA Head of League Operations Bethany Donaphin. “When we changed the All-WNBA Team voting process last year, we noted how our game has evolved in terms of pace of play and spacing. The players have expanded their skill sets, and that is equally true on defense.”

The WNBA playoffs begin on Wednesday, September 13, 2023, with all games broadcast on ESPN platforms.