ARLINGTON, Texas — Jessica Shepard was named the 2026 WNBA Most Improved Player on Wednesday, hours before the Dallas Wings host the Golden State Valkyries in an elimination game at College Park Center. The Wings forward received 29 of the 74 votes cast by a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters, the WNBA announced.
Washington Mystics center Shakira Austin finished second with 25 votes. Portland Fire guard Carla Leite was third with 11, and Marina Mabrey of the Toronto Tempo received four. Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga got three votes, while Los Angeles Sparks guard-forward Rae Burrell got two.
Along with the award, Shepard will receive $15,000 and a trophy. She is the second player to win it with Dallas, joining Satou Sabally in 2023. The Associated Press named Shepard its Most Improved Player on Sept. 27, and according to the team, she is the second Wings player to win that version as well, also following Sabally.
In her sixth WNBA season and first in Dallas, Shepard averaged career highs of 14.5 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 5.3 assists in 31.7 minutes per game. With the Minnesota Lynx in 2025, she averaged 8.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 2.6 assists in 20.9 minutes off the bench. She and Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese were the only players in the league to average a double-double this season.
Shepard started all 42 games she played and sat out two in August with a right ankle injury. Dallas finished 27-17 and earned the No. 7 seed. That was 17 more wins than the Wings had in 2025, which the team said is the largest single-season turnaround in WNBA history.
Jessica Shepard’s 467 Rebounds Rank Second In WNBA History
Her 467 rebounds were the second-highest single-season total in league history. Reese set the record this year with 521. Shepard ranked second in the WNBA in rebounds per game, and her 57.5% shooting from the field was fifth. She was 11th in assists per game for a Wings team that led the league at 22.3.
According to the team, Shepard set Wings single-season records for total rebounds, rebounds per game, and triple-doubles, along with points-rebounds and points-assists double-doubles. She had 25 double-doubles after recording 10 in 2025. That total is the fourth-most in a single WNBA season.
Shepard came into 2026 with one career triple-double across 125 games. She led the league with six this season, which ties for the second-most in a single season in WNBA history. On May 28 against the Las Vegas Aces, she had 22 points, 20 rebounds, and 10 assists to become the second player in league history with a 20-point, 20-rebound, 10-assist game.
The sixth triple-double came in the Sept. 23 regular-season finale, when she had 20 points, 11 rebounds, and 12 assists in a 103-91 win at Seattle. Dallas finished that night with a season-high 32 assists. In a postgame interview with USA Sports, Paige Bueckers said Shepard rebounds, passes, and pushes the ball in transition for Dallas, and that she leads off the floor as well.
“Jess has meant so much to this team. She’s just a hub for us offensively. We can play through her,” Bueckers said. “She just plays winning basketball and affects the game in so many different ways, regardless if she’s scoring or not.”
“She’s putting the ball in the basket. She rebounds. She passes the ball. She pushes in transition for us, and then she’s just a leader and an even better human being than she is a basketball player,” Bueckers continued. “So I can’t say enough good things about Jess Shepard. I’m so happy to play with her and be on the same team as her and have her as a weapon for us.”
Dallas Wings Face Elimination Against Golden State Valkyries In Game 2
The Lynx drafted Shepard 16th overall in 2019, and she spent five seasons in Minnesota. Dallas signed her to a multi-year contract April 11. She made her first All-Star team this season and was voted a starter for the All-Star Game in Chicago in July.
Speaking with reporters Friday in Arlington, two days before the series opened, Shepard said a playoff berth was what she expected when she chose Dallas, and that winning championships is the goal.
“I think it was the plan. I wouldn’t have came here if I didn’t think we could make the playoffs, obviously,” Shepard said. “Obviously, the goal is to win championships here, but yeah, it’s not a surprise to me.”
Looking back on the regular season was something Shepard wanted to save for after the playoffs.
“I think right now as competitors we’re just focused on the playoffs,” Shepard explained. “I think looking back on the whole season is something we’ll do later, but right now we’re definitely focused on the matchup that we have on Sunday.”
Golden State won Game 1 104-80 on Sunday at Chase Center after outscoring Dallas 37-11 in the second quarter. Shepard went 0-of-7 from the field and finished with 0 points, 3 rebounds, and 3 assists. In three regular-season meetings, all Valkyries wins, she averaged 8.0 points, 9.3 rebounds, and 2.3 assists.
The 2025 winner, Golden State guard Veronica Burton, was drafted by Dallas seventh overall in 2022. Burton had 10 points and 5 assists in Game 1.
Game 2 tips off at 8 p.m. CT on ESPN. If Dallas wins, Game 3 would be played Friday, Oct. 2, at Chase Center in San Francisco.
