NEW YORK, NY. – Connecticut Sun guard-forward DiJonai Carrington has been named the 2024 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player, the WNBA announced today.
Carrington received 28 of 67 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters. Los Angeles Sparks forward Dearica Hamby finished in second place with 18 votes, Minnesota Lynx forward Bridget Carleton came in third with 15 votes and Chicago Sky guard Chennedy Carter was fourth with three votes. Seattle Storm forward Jordan Horston, New York Liberty guard Sabrina Ionescu and Lynx forward Alanna Smith each received one vote.
The 5-11 Carrington, selected by the Sun with the 20th overall pick in the 2021 WNBA Draft presented by State Farm, averaged career highs of 12.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.56 steals this season, up from 8.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 0.63 steals in 2023. In addition, she recorded a career-high 25 games with 10 or more points.
Carrington paced all WNBA players in games with at least five steals (three) and ranked ninth in steals per game. Behind her strong defensive play, the Sun led the league in fewest points allowed (73.6 points per game) and defensive rating (94.1). In addition, Connecticut ranked third in steals per game (8.2).
In her fourth WNBA season, Carrington started all 39 games in which she played. She helped Connecticut post a 28-12 record – the most wins in franchise history – and earn the No. 3 seed in the WNBA Playoffs presented by Google. The Sun, which leads the sixth-seeded Indiana Fever 1-0 in the first round, will host Game 2 tonight (7:30 p.m. ET, ESPN).
Carrington is the fifth player to win the Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Award with the Sun, joining Brionna Jones (2021), Jonquel Jones (2017), Kelsey Bone (2015) and Wendy Palmer (co-winner in 2024 with Indiana’s Kelly Miller).
In honor of being named the Kia WNBA Most Improved Player, Carrington will receive $5,150 and a trophy designed to commemorate the achievement.
Below are the voting results for the 2024 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player Award and a list of past recipients.
2024 KIA WNBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER VOTING RESULTS
DiJonai Carrington Connecticut Sun 28
Dearica Hamby Los Angeles Sparks 18
Bridget Carleton Minnesota Lynx 15
Chennedy Carter Chicago Sky 3
Jordan Horston Seattle Storm 1
Sabrina Ionescu New York Liberty 1
Alanna Smith Minnesota Lynx 1
|
KIA WNBA MOST IMPROVED PLAYER AWARD WINNERS |
||
|
2000 – Tari Phillips, New York 2001 – Janeth Arcain, Houston 2002 – Coco Miller, Washington 2003 – Michelle Snow, Houston 2004 – Kelly Miller/Wendy Palmer, IND/CON 2005 – Nicole Powell, Sacramento 2006 – Erin Perperoglou, Sacramento 2007 – Janel McCarville, New York 2008 – Ebony Hoffman, Indiana |
2009 – Crystal Langhorne, Washington 2011 – Kia Vaughn, New York 2012 – Kristi Toliver, Los Angeles 2013 – Shavonte Zellous, Indiana 2014 – Skylar Diggins-Smith, Tulsa 2015 – Kelsey Bone, Connecticut 2016 – Elizabeth Williams, Atlanta 2017 – Jonquel Jones, Connecticut
|
2018 – Natasha Howard, Seattle 2019 – Leilani Mitchell, Phoenix 2020 – Betnijah Laney-Hamilton, Atlanta 2021 – Brionna Jones, Connecticut 2022 – Jackie Young, Las Vegas 2023 – Satou Sabally, Dallas 2024 – DiJonai Carrington, Connecticut |
One thought