CT Sun Star ‘Underappreciated’ After WNBA MVP Voting Unveiled

UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Connecticut Sun triple-double machine Alyssa Thomas came agonizingly close to winning WNBA MVP honors last season.

A dip just in scoring production caused her to slide in that conversation this season as she found out Sunday she finished fifth in the voting, one spot behind Indiana Fever rookie superstar Caitlin Clark. A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces took home the award in an unanimous decision.

There’s not much flash to Thomas’ game. She doesn’t drain long-range 3-pointers like Clark. In fact, she barely takes a shot outside the paint. But there’s not another player in the WNBA that can consistently replicate what Thomas, who averaged 10.6 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists in the regular season, can do on the court.

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Thomas, at 6-foot-2 with guard skills and exceptional court awareness, is one-of-one and Sun head coach Stephanie White felt Thomas doesn’t get the recognition she deserves.

“I think AT is always underappreciated,” White said prior to the Sun’s playoff game Sunday against the Fever. “I know that the numbers were incredible a year ago, but I think her versatility, what she means to a team, whether it’s our team, whether it’s the national team where she was put in for defensive reasons, facilitating — anything that’s she’s asked to do. You ask AT, she doesn’t care about the triple-doubles. She doesn’t care about the MVP voting. She doesn’t care about any of that stuff. She cares about winning.

“And when you have a player that you can move around the floor, that can match up with multiple players on the defensive end, the versatility that she gives us is so critical to our success. So, I think she’s always underappreciated from the outside looking in. But her value to us and what she brings to our team and our franchise night in and night out, you can’t put a price on that.”

There wasn’t anything out of the ordinary from Thomas’ performance in third-seeded Connecticut’s 93-69 runaway win over Clark and the No. 6 Fever in Game 1 of its first-round series. And that’s the scary part.

Nobody batted an eye that Thomas posted a triple-double of 12 points, 13 assists and 10 rebounds because a showing like that is normal for the 32-year-old.

“It’s crazy, right? We almost take it for granted,” White said. “I hope that we remind ourselves not to. It’s not normal. It’s just not normal to have this many triple-doubles.”

It was the 15th career triple-double for Thomas. It’s by far the most of any WNBA player in the league’s history. Earlier this month, nobody else had more than four triple-doubles in their career.

Thomas certainly will keep providing triple-doubles for as long as she can in the playoffs for the Sun, showing that she’s the clear MVP of a team that has as good of a chance as anyone to walk away with a WNBA title. The more important trophy to Thomas.