Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson continues to make history. On Sunday, the WNBA announced that she was the unanimous choice as the league’s Most Valuable Player.

Wilson is only the second player to win the award unanimously, joining Cynthia Cooper, who achieved the feat during the league’s inaugural season of 1997.

Wilson received all 67 first-place votes from a national media panel and has now won the award three times. The Aces’ star forward was also honored in 2020 and 2022. With her third win, the 28-year-old has tied the record for the most MVPs, matching Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson.

Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier (467 points) finished in second place this season, followed by New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (295 points), Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (130 points) and Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas (83 points) in fifth.

Wilson also finished third in the WNBA MVP voting last year, behind winner Stewart and runner-up Thomas, in the closest MVP contest in league history. Among the contenders, Wilson was the only player to receive a fourth-place vote, a decision she mocked throughout the Aces’ run to a second successive championship.

“It propelled me a little bit as I started my offseason workouts, but around February I was over it,” Wilson said of last season’s vote. “I didn’t want to give that person that energy, that’s when I started to lock in.”

Wilson led the Aces to titles in 2022 and 2023, winning the WNBA finals MVP award in 2023, and is aiming for a three-peat this year. While the Aces struggled at times during the regular season this go around, Wilson was a constant, dominating on both ends of the court.

Earlier this season, Wilson became the first player in WNBA history to score 1,000 points in a season. She finished the regular season with 1,021 points, adding 451 rebounds and 98 blocks, becoming the first player in league history to top the charts in all three categories. Her scoring average for the season (26.1) also broke Diana Taurasi’s 2006 record (25.3).

“I cannot thank you all enough,” Wilson said while addressing her teammates on Sunday. “I hope you guys understand how much you mean to me. I hope you guys know that this trophy is nothing without y’all. We’ve been through the ringer – and we gon’ continue to go through the ringer – but one thing y’all don’t ever have to worry about is A’ja going anywhere.”

The Aces enter the playoffs as the No 4 seed and will tip off their first-round series against the No 5 seed Seattle Storm on Sunday.

• This article was amended on 25 September 2024. An earlier version said that A’ja Wilson won the WNBA finals MVP award in 2022. It also said that if the Aces won for the third time this would be unprecedented, which is not the case.