Elena Delle Donne wins second WNBA MVP award

Is this now the Elena Delle Donne era of WNBA basketball?

Even if you don’t want to go all the way to an “era,” Delle Donne dominated this season. The Ursuline Academy and Delaware graduate was voted WNBA MVP for the second time, the official announcement coming Thursday.

This time, it was a no-brainer, the vote a runaway, as Delle Donne, in her seventh season, received 41 of 43 first-place votes. The Washington Mystics star becomes the first in league history to win MVP with two teams, after winning in 2015 with the Chicago Sky.

Delle Donne certainly set the standard for the league this season, as the Mystics posted the top regular-season record. She became the first WNBA player to hit the “50-40-90″ mark, averaging 51.5 percent from the field, 43 percent from three-point range, and 97.4 percent from the foul line in the regular season.

Eight NBA players have accomplished that feat, and several congratulated her on joining their ranks. Kevin Durant, who did it in 2012-13 with Oklahoma, tweeted, “Insane numbers. Welcome to the club big dog.”

Asked about this turning into an era, Mystics coach Mike Thibault pointed out Wednesday that he’s biased toward his own player, but that this certainly is the time of the tall player who can shoot threes, handle the ball, and be multidimensional. In addition to Delle Donne, the description fits Breanna Stewart, who was hurt this season, and rookie star A’ja Wilson with Las Vegas, Thibault said.

"It mirrors the NBA,'' Thibault said, pointing to Durant, LeBron James, and others.

It isn’t the only WNBA award for a local. Washington Township High and La Salle graduate Cheryl Reeve, already a two-time coach of the year with the Minnesota Lynx, added another honor acknowledging the depth of her duties with the Lynx. League executives voted Reeve executive of the year.

For MVP honors, Phoenix Mercury center Brittney Griner finished second, followed by Connecticut Sun forward-center Jonquel Jones, Los Angeles Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike, and Seattle Storm forward Natasha Howard.

On Thursday, the Mystics face the Las Vegas Aces in Game 2 of the WNBA semifinals. The Mystics won Game 1, 97-95, led by 24 points from Delle Donne.

In the regular season, Delle Donne finished second in scoring (19.5 points a game), fifth in rebounding (8.3 a game) in addition to tops in free-throw percentage and tied for third in three-point percentage.

Thibault noted that the 50/40/90 numbers are "very telling about efficiency. I think the interesting part, she came in second in scoring. She would have led if we didn’t have blowout games. She probably could have averaged 24 or 25.

“The other part that doesn’t show up in stats -- she’s become a much-more integral part of what we do defensively. When she missed three-plus games, we missed her defensively, too. She bothered people with her length, blocked shots, rebounds.”