Golden State Valkyries forward Janelle Salaün was unanimously selected as the Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year, the league announced today. Salaün received all 74 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
Salaün appeared in 40 games for Golden State this season, all as a reserve, averaging 22.1 minutes, 12.7 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 1.2 assists while shooting 42.5 percent from the field. The forward set the single-season WNBA record by a reserve player for total points (509), threes (93), and threes per game (2.3). Her 12.7 points per game led all reserve players this season and ranked seventh all-time in league history. Salaün shot 39.2 percent from deep this season, which ranked fourth in the league among all players with at least five attempts per game.
Salaün’s 27 10-point games this year are the most by a reserve player in league history, and her six 20-point games are tied for the fourth most in a season by a reserve in WNBA history. On July 8 at Toronto, Salaün scored a career-high 26 points on 5-6 shooting (83.3 percent) from three-point range, and is one of six reserve players in WNBA history to score 25-plus points with five or more threes in fewer than 25 minutes.
This is Salaün’s second-ever WNBA end-of-season award after she was named to the WNBA All-Rookie Team a season ago.
Below is the list of recipients of the Kia WNBA Sixth Player of the Year Award since its inception in 2007.
| KIA WNBA SIXTH PLAYER OF THE YEAR AWARD WINNERS | ||
| 2007 – Plenette Pierson, Detroit 2008 – Candice Wiggins, Minnesota 2009 – DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix 2010 – DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix 2011 – DeWanna Bonner, Phoenix 2012 – Renee Montgomery, Connecticut 2013 – Riquna Williams, Tulsa | 2014 – Allie Quigley, Chicago 2015 – Allie Quigley, Chicago 2016 – Jantel Lavender, Los Angeles 2017 – Sugar Rodgers, New York 2018 – Jonquel Jones, Connecticut 2019 – Dearica Hamby, Las Vegas 2020 – Dearica Hamby, Las Vegas | 2021 – Kelsey Plum, Las Vegas 2022 – Brionna Jones, Connecticut 2023 – Alysha Clark, Las Vegas 2024 – Tiffany Hayes, Las Vegas 2025 – Naz Hillmon, Atlanta 2026 – Janelle Salaün, Golden State |
The Valkyries host the Las Vegas Aces today, October 4 in Game 1 of the WNBA Playoffs Semifinals at Chase Center, with tipoff set for 1 p.m. PT on NBC and Peacock. Radio coverage is available on 95.7 The Game, 1320 AM in Sacramento and SiriusXM channels 86 and 171, with streaming on the Audacy, SiriusXM and Chase Center apps.
For more information on the Golden State Valkyries 2026 season, presented by Kaiser Permanente, visit valkyries.com.
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