Why Dream’s Allisha Gray should be in discussions for WNBA’s top honor
Allisha Gray won’t talk up her numbers. She won’t rattle off stat lines or highlight her breakout season. But the Dream guard doesn’t have to. Her play speaks loudly enough.
The three-time All-Star has become the steady engine behind the Dream’s rise to a franchise record for single-season victories, delivering career highs almost everywhere.
Gray ranks second in the WNBA in minutes (35.3 per game), while averaging 18.6 points, 13.4 shot attempts, 2.3 made 3-pointers on 6.2 tries, 4.5 defensive rebounds, 5.4 total rebounds and 3.6 assists, while sitting third in offensive win shares (4.9) and win shares (6.8) according to Her Hoop Stats. She also ranks among the WNBA’s most reliable scorers, hitting double figures in 39 games this season — a new franchise record that toppled Rhyne Howard’s 36 in 2023.
Gray now owns the Dream’s single-season scoring mark with 745 points, and her 90-plus 3-pointers make her only the second player in franchise history to reach that milestone, joining Howard. Within the league, only Indiana’s Kelsey Mitchell has matched Gray’s consistency from deep this season.
“She’s been one of the best players in the league this year … just an exceptional player,” head coach Karl Smesko said after the Dream’s victory against the Lynx on Aug. 21. “She has the ability to put on the floor and get to the rim. She does a great job drawing fouls. She’s a great all-around scorer. … This is probably her best year passing the ball. She’s in the MVP conversation because she’s doing it all, including defending and rebounding. … She deserves to be in the conversation.”
Naz Hillmon agrees: “We need (Allisha) to do what she does, but it’s not just on the offensive end,” she said after the Dream’s victory over the Liberty on Aug. 23. “It’s on the defensive end (too). We ask her to guard the best players on the opposite team. We ask her to play 38 minutes, and she just does all of those things, and she does it efficiently. … She’s a little quiet, but like, I’m gonna talk her up, and I think that she should definitely be in those conversations.”
However, Gray isn’t alone in the MVP race. The field is loaded with star power, from the Minnesota Lynx’s Napheesa Collier to the Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas to Las Vegas standout A’ja Wilson, the reigning and three-time MVP.
Collier, in particular, has fueled the Lynx’s record-breaking season. Even after missing seven games in August with an ankle injury, she leads the league in scoring at 23.5 points per game and in field goals made (8.5). The five-time All-Star also ranks sixth in minutes (32.4), second in 2-point makes (7.1) and 2-point percentage (57.8), and fourth in free-throw percentage (90.9). On the glass, she sits top 10 in both defensive rebounds (5.6) and total rebounds (7.5).
On defense, she ranks among the league’s best with 1.7 steals and 1.6 blocks per game.
Thomas has built her case with sheer versatility. The six-time All-Star ranks second in the league in double-doubles with 20, averaging 15.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 9.2 assists and 1.6 steals. She has recorded seven triple-doubles this year alone, pushing her career total to 18, the most in WNBA history. One of those performances was historic. She became the first player ever to log at least 10 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists in a single contest.
Wilson, meanwhile, has powered Las Vegas back into championship form. After a crushing 53-point loss to Minnesota in early August dropped the Aces to .500, Wilson helped lead them on a 12-game win streak that put them firmly back in contention. The two-time champion and reigning MVP has 35 career games of 30 or more points, the second most in league history. Eleven of those have come this season, marking her second consecutive season with double-digit 30-point outings.
She also leads the league in scoring at 23.4 points per game, ranks second in field goals made (8.2), and tops the charts in 2-point makes (7.7) and attempts (15.2). She also leads in free throws made (6.4) and attempted (7.6), blocks (2.2), and sits second in both defensive rebounds (7.9) and total rebounds (10.1). Add in her league-best offensive (5.2) and defensive (2.2) win shares, and Wilson’s MVP case is strong, too.
