Angel Reese and Gabby Williams make WNBA All-Defensive first team ahead of Finals
Atlanta and Golden State account for six of the 10 All-Defensive selections as the teams prepare to meet in the WNBA Finals.
Angel Reese of the Atlanta Dream and Gabby Williams of the Golden State Valkyries were named to the WNBA’s 2026 All-Defensive first team on October 15, USA TODAY Sports reported. The clubs account for six of the 10 selections across both teams ahead of their WNBA Finals series, which opens Saturday at Chase Center in San Francisco, according to ESPN.
Which Dream and Valkyries players made the teams
Reese made the first team after winning the 2026 Defensive Player of the Year award, according to USA TODAY Sports. Dream teammate Rhyne Howard joined her on the first team, while Jordin Canada received second-team honors. Atlanta therefore has two first-team selections and one second-team selection as it prepares for the championship series.
Williams earned a first-team place for the second consecutive season. USA TODAY Sports reported that she finished second to Reese in Defensive Player of the Year voting. Golden State guard Veronica Burton and center Kiah Stokes were named to the second team. The Valkyries, like the Dream, have three players among the 10 honorees, though their selections are distributed differently between the two teams.
How Atlanta and Golden State enter the Finals
ESPN describes the Finals as a best-of-seven series between teams with sharply different recent results against each other. Atlanta enters on a 10-game winning streak, while Golden State won their regular-season series 3-0. The clubs last met in the regular season on July 4, before either began its run through the playoffs.
The Valkyries have also received more scoring from their reserves in the playoffs. ESPN reported that Golden State’s bench averaged a league-best 32.3 points, compared with 16.2 for Atlanta’s bench. Those figures provide context for the matchup alongside the defensive awards: the two Finals teams share six selections, but their playoff bench production has differed substantially.
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Sources and context
- Angel Reese, Gabby Williams headline WNBA All-Defensive team: Full listUSA TODAY Sports (Cydney Henderson); article accessed via Yahoo Sports
- WNBA Finals guide: Dream-Valkyries predictions and how each team could winESPN (Michael Voepel, Alexa Philippou, Kendra Andrews, Kareem Copeland)
AI-assisted article checked against the listed sources. NewsJaws did not conduct interviews or attend the reported events.