Indiana Fever forward-center Aliyah Boston was unanimously named the 2023 WNBA Rookie of the Year. She received all 60 votes from a national panel of sportswriters and broadcasters.
She is the first unanimous Rookie of the Year since fellow South Carolina alum A’ja Wilson won the award in 2018. Indiana selected Boston with the first overall pick in the 2023 WNBA draft. In her rookie season, she averaged 14.5 points, 8.4 rebounds, 2.2 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocked shots, and shot a WNBA-high 57.8% from the field. She became the first rookie to lead the league in that category in a season.
Boston will receive $5,150 and a trophy to commemorate the achievement.
She is the second player in Fever history to win the WNBA Rookie of the Year Award, joining Tamika Catchings in 2002. Boston also became the first rookie in WNBA history to have at least 550 total points and 325 total rebounds in a season.
“It is so special and it is really a blessing to have won Rookie of the Year,” Boston said in a video the team shared on social media. “It is one of the goals that I set for myself at the beginning of the season and to be able to accomplish it with God’s help was amazing. So thankful for my teammates because they were really able to put me in the position. Thank you to my coaches because they motivated me. But this is honestly such a blessing and I am super excited.”
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