Veronica Burton Wins WNBA Most Improved Player Award
Golden State Valkyries’ standout guard, Veronica Burton, has been awarded the WNBA’s Most Improved Player award, the league announced on Monday.
Burton earned an impressive endorsement, receiving 68 of the 72 votes cast by a national panel of sports journalists and broadcasters.
Azura Stevens finished second with two votes, while Allisha Gray and Natisha Hiedeman tied for third place, each with one vote.
Burton’s evolution during the season was remarkable, averaging career highs with 11.9 points, 4.4 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 1.1 steals in 44 games. This improvement is even more significant when compared to her performance in 2024 with the Connecticut Sun, where she averaged 3.1 points, 1.4 rebounds, and 1.9 assists in 12.7 minutes per game.
According to WNBA data, Burton became the first player in league history to increase her averages by at least five points, two rebounds, and two assists per game from one season to the next, considering a minimum of 30 games played in each season.
In her fourth year in the league, Burton made the most 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’s injury.
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 made history by becoming the first WNBA player 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 with Connecticut, she was chosen by the Valkyries in the 2024 expansion draft.
