Veronica Burton Wins WNBA Most Improved Player Award
Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton has been awarded the WNBA Most Improved Player award, the league announced on Monday.
Burton received a total of 68 votes from a national panel made up of sports journalists and commentators.
Azura Stevens finished second with two votes, while Allisha Gray and Natisha Hiedeman tied for third place, each with one vote.
The player averaged career highs with 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 44 games, showing a notable evolution compared to her 2024 season with the Connecticut Sun.
In the previous campaign, Burton recorded averages of 3.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 12.7 minutes per game. She became the first player in WNBA history to increase her averages by at least five points, two rebounds, and two assists per game from one season to the next (with a minimum of 30 games played each season), according to WNBA data.
In her fourth season in the league, Burton took advantage of her growing role in the league’s first expansion franchise since 2008. She was the only Valkyries player to start all 44 regular season games and took on greater responsibilities after Kayla Thornton suffered a knee injury in July.
Burton finished the regular season third in the WNBA in assists per game and fourth with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 2.82 (minimum 10 games played). On August 19, against the Phoenix Mercury, she became the first player in WNBA history to record at least 24 points and 14 assists without turnovers in a game. In addition, she is the only player in the league this season with three games of 10 or more assists and zero turnovers.
He also frequently took on the task of defending the opposing team’s best guards.
Burton was selected by the Dallas Wings with the seventh overall pick in the 2022 draft. After playing two seasons with Dallas and one season with Connecticut, she was chosen by the Valkyries in the 2024 expansion draft.
