Did Storm’s Dominique Malonga Get Robbed of MIP Award?

Dallas Wings forward Jessica Shepard won the 2026 Kia WNBA Most Improved Player award, the league announced on Wednesday. Seattle Storm forward Dominique Malonga was also in the running for the award, finishing fifth out of six players in the voting.

Malonga made a massive jump from her rookie to second season, and she was one of just two second-year players in the voting (Portland Fire’s Carla Leite). The former 2025 No. 2 overall pick led the Storm in nearly every statistical category and drastically improved as a defender.

Was Malonga robbed of the MIP award? Did playing for the worst team in the WNBA swing the voting out of her favor? Let’s take a look at how the voting shook out.