Ranking the WNBA's 15 most clutch players of all time

Candace Parker and Elena Delle Donne, former WNBA MVPs and two of the most clutch players in league history, will be inducted into the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame this weekend in Knoxville, Tennessee.

What does "clutch" mean? It's largely in the eye of the beholder. Statisticians will say there is no such thing, that players who are good in high-pressure situations are good almost all the time.

But that's not necessarily how it feels when you're watching basketball and thinking about which players teams want taking a pivotal shot or making the pass that leads to it. Or who can be most counted on to grab a rebound, block a shot or get a steal when the game is on the line. You can measure it with stats, but it's also about intangibles and subjectivity.

So, as the WNBA continues to celebrate its 30th anniversary this season, who are the most clutch players all time in the WNBA? Parker and Delle Donne know a lot about clutch play -- as does fellow WBHOF Class of 2026 inducteeCheryl Reeve, who coached two players on the list with the Minnesota Lynx. Every player in our top 15 won at least one WNBA championship, and all but two were either league or WNBA Finals MVPs or both.

1. A'ja Wilson, 6-4 center

Las Vegas Aces(2018-present)

Listing awards doesn't always say enough about a player, but it does a good job with Wilson. She is an unprecedented four-time MVP, and also a two-time WNBA Finals MVP, three-time Defensive Player of the Year, two-time scoring leader and five-time blocks leader -- all before the age of 30. She has won three WNBA titles, played in one other WNBA Finals and the Aces have made it to at least the semifinals in each of her seasons except her rookie year. She is the definition of clutch, both offensively and defensively.

2. Cynthia Cooper, 5-10 guard

Houston Comets (1997-2000, plus four games in 2003)

Imagine what Cooper's final stats could have been if the WNBA existed for her right out of college. Instead, she was 34 when it started, but her decade-plus of playing overseas had kept her at the top of her game. She led Houston to the WNBA's first four championships, winning Finals MVP each time. (The first year was a championship game, not a series.) In those four seasons, there was no one that opposing defenses feared more having the ball in her hands with the clock winding down than Cooper, who averaged 21.0 PPG for her short but spectacular WNBA career. She had a true shooting percentage of 61.0, third-best in league history.

3. Maya Moore, 6-0 forward

Minnesota Lynx(2011-18)

Moore's career was defined by playing for championships. In her eight WNBA seasons, the Lynx went to the WNBA Finals six times and won four titles. Moore won one MVP award and one Finals MVP honor. She could score from anywhere on the floor and was used to being the go-to in the most high-pressure situations. One of the biggest shots she ever hit was in Game 3 of the 2015 WNBA Finals: a buzzer-beating 3-pointer in an 80-77 victory over Indiana. The Lynx went on to win the series 3-2. Moore, known for her constant energy, also had a knack for making big defensive plays at key moments. Moore was also incredibly durable, and even though she stopped playing at age 29, she had a jam-packed career of highlights in the biggest situations.

4. Sylvia Fowles, 6-6 center

Chicago Sky(2008-14); Minnesota Lynx (2015-22)

Fowles was an old-school center who could carve up opponents offensively and shut them down defensively inside. She finished her career with the highest shooting percentage (60%) and true shooting percentage (63.6%) in league history, and she also ranks second in rebounds (4,006). Fowles didn't shoot 3-pointers but made up for that by being almost unstoppable close to the basket. Along with winning MVP in 2017, she was Finals MVP twice and defensive player of the year four times. She was on the all-defensive team 11 times and led the league in rebounding three seasons. She went to the WNBA Finals once with the Sky and three times with the Lynx. And Fowles never got rattled; her calmness under pressure helped make her reliable in the clutch.

5. Sheryl Swoopes, 6-0 forward

Houston Comets (1997-2007); Seattle Storm (2008); Tulsa Shock (2011)

Swoopes cutting off the passing lane, getting a steal and racing downcourt for a layup is one of the iconic images of the WNBA. And that symbolizes one of the ways she was clutch: how often she made momentum-shifting plays. A four-time WNBA champion, she won Defensive Player of the Year three times and ranks sixth on the all-time steals list (657). Essentially, she did all of this from age 27 on. She finished a stellar college career in 1993, then missed most of the WNBA's inaugural season in 1997 after giving birth in June of that year. But by 1998, Swoopes was truly elite.

6. Lauren Jackson, 6-5 center/forward

Seattle Storm (2001-12)

Nobody ever figured out how to stop Jackson, the greatest women's player from Australia and a two-time WNBA champion. The only thing that slowed her was injuries, which cut short her WNBA career at age 31. She was limited to just 28 combined games, counting playoffs, in the 2011 and 2012 seasons. But 2010 was her pièce de resistance season, as she won her third MVP and first WNBA Finals MVP. Her 2007 season -- when she was MVP and Defensive Player of the Year -- also stands out as the highest PER (player efficiency rating) in WNBA history: 35.04. Jackson's career PER of 27.93 is behind only Wilson (29.01) and Cooper (28.72). Jackson could body up with anyone in the low block but also made 436 3-pointers in her career, shooting 35.1% from behind the arc. To shoot that well from the outside at her size made her especially dangerous, and her shot blocking, rebounding and low-block defense were as clutch as all she did on offense.

7. Diana Taurasi, 6-0 guard

Phoenix Mercury (2004-24)

Taurasi is the league's all-time leading scorer (10,646 points), is seventh in career scoring average (18.9) and fourth on the career assists list (2,394). She played 20 seasons and is second to former UConn teammate Sue Bird in regular-season games played (565). She won the season MVP award once and was Finals MVP twice. Taurasi, a three-time WNBA champion, also made the most 3-pointers in WNBA history (1,447). Taurasi was not known as being as elite a defender, but she had 518 steals. Crunch time usually brought out the best in Taurasi: When it came to clutch scoring, she was fearless. Taurasi never flinched from having the game ride on her shoulders.

8. Lisa Leslie, 6-5 center

Los Angeles Sparks (1997-2009)

One of the first three players to sign with the league -- along with Swoopes and Rebecca Lobo -- Leslie was about to turn 25 when the WNBA launched. Then she was the key to the Sparks making three consecutive WNBA Finals appearances and winning two titles (2001 and 2002). She was MVP three times and Finals MVP twice, plus Defensive Player of the Year twice. Leslie finished a season in the top five in the league in scoring seven times, in rebounds 10 times and in blocks 11 times. In the clutch, the Sparks always depended on Leslie to own the paint, which she consistently did as a scorer and rim protector. And her ability to also step out and hit face-up shots helped usher in a new kind of truly mobile center in women's basketball.

9. Candace Parker, 6-4 forward/center

Los Angeles Sparks (2008-20); Chicago Sky (2021-22); Las Vegas Aces (2023)

Several younger post players cite Parker as the model for versatility that they followed. Parker, like Sparks teammate Leslie, helped change the game with how she redefined what a "big" could do on court. Parker is the only player to win WNBA MVP as a rookie, and she also won the MVP a second time, plus was the Defensive Player of the Year once. Her first WNBA title came with the Sparks in 2016, when she was Finals MVP, and she also won championships with the Sky and Aces, although her final season was cut short by injury. Parker's ability to create for herself and other players made her an offensive threat that flummoxed defenses throughout her career. A big element of her clutch status was how many ways she could impact games.

10. Breanna Stewart, 6-4 forward

Seattle Storm (2016-22); New York Liberty (2023-present)

Much like fellow UConn legend Moore, Stewart's career has been championship-defined. After winning four NCAA titles with the Huskies, she has three titles in the WNBA. The first two came with the Storm in 2018 and 2020, and then she helped lead the Liberty to their first title in 2024. Stewart's biggest clutch moment with New York: hitting two free throws with 5 seconds left in regulation to tie the decisive Game 5 of the 2024 WNBA Finals. She then also made two free throws with 10 seconds left in overtime, giving New York a 67-62 victory and the championship. Stewart has been MVP and Finals MVP twice, and been in the top 10 in defensive rating nine times. Her career scoring average of 20.4 PPG entering this season ranks third in WNBA history behind Wilson and Cooper.

11. Tamika Catchings, 6-1 forward

Indiana Fever (2002-16)

It tells you how insanely elite this list is that Catchings is just out of the top 10. She easily could be placed higher. And if the focus was strictly on clutch defense, she definitely would be. Catchings was the Defensive Player of the Year five times and led the WNBA in steals seven times, with a league-best career average of 2.35 steals. Like Delle Donne, Catchings played in the WNBA Finals three times and won once, in 2012. She was Finals MVP that year -- leading the Fever over Minnesota 3-1 was her biggest WNBA clutch highlight -- and season MVP in 2011. Catchings didn't come into the league as a great shooter, but with work made herself one, finishing her career averaging 16.1 points and 7.3 rebounds.

12. Elena Delle Donne, 6-5 guard/forward

Chicago Sky (2013-16); Washington Mystics (2017-23)

If you wanted to build a great shooter, you couldn't do better than Delle Donne, whose form was picture-perfect. She is the best free throw shooter the WNBA has ever seen, finishing at 93.7% from the line. That's an enormous crunch-time skill to have. Delle Donne shot 39.2% from behind the arc in her career, including four seasons over 40%. She won two MVP awards: in 2015 with the Sky and 2019 with the Mystics. She became the first player in WNBA history to have a 50-40-90 season in 2019 -- shooting more than 50% from the field, 40% from 3-point range and 90% from the foul line -- as Washington won the WNBA title. But probably the most clutch thing about Delle Donne was her perseverance, dealing with Lyme disease, debilitating back issues and a knee injury. Delle Donne played hurt in all three of her WNBA Finals appearances but gutted them out, with the 2019 WNBA Finals -- when she had three herniated discs in her back -- being her ultimate clutch performance.

13. Sue Bird, 5-9 guard

Seattle Storm (2002-22)

Bird didn't win a regular-season or Finals MVP award, but as floor general she was a key factor in players such as Jackson and Stewart winning those honors. The league's leader in regular-season games played (580), Bird also appeared in 60 playoff games and won four WNBA titles. She's No. 1 all-time in the WNBA in assists (3,234) but some of her most clutch moments were when she called her own number. Probably her most memorable clutch performance was Game 5 of the 2018 semifinals, when Bird -- wearing a mask to protect a broken nose -- scored 14 of her 22 points in the fourth quarter of a 94-84 win over Phoenix. The Storm went on to sweep Washington in the Finals.

14. Chelsea Gray, 5-11 guard

Connecticut Sun (2015); Los Angeles Sparks (2016-20); Las Vegas Aces (2021-present)

Gray is much like Bird: A brilliant point guard, she is sixth on the career assists list (1,994), and she also has made several huge shots in the postseason. Gray won a WNBA title with the Sparks in 2016, and has three with the Aces (2022, 2023 and 2025). Her 2022 playoff performance is her clutch highlight: In 10 postseason games, she averaged 21.7 PPG while shooting 61.1% from the field, 54.4% from behind the arc. She also averaged 7.0 assists and became the only true guard in the last 11 seasons to win the WNBA Finals MVP award.

15. Nneka Ogwumike, 6-2 forward

Los Angeles Sparks (2012-23; 2026); Seattle Storm (2024-25)

Ogwumike's production has been like a metronome: reliable and repeatable. But her most clutch season was spectacular: 2016, when she won the MVP award averaging 19.7 points and 9.1 rebounds while shooting 66.5% from the field. That's the third-highest field goal percentage for a season in WNBA history, and the best by an MVP. It was fitting that Ogwumike clinched the Sparks' 2016 championship over Minnesota by hitting the game-winning shot after getting the ball back when her first attempt was blocked. It gave Los Angeles a 77-76 victory in Game 5 of the Finals.

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