A'ja Wilson had the greatest individual season any female athlete has put together in years.

In 2025, she became the only player in WNBA or NBA history to win regular-season MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP in the same season. Her fourth career MVP broke her own all-time record and came by a landslide with 51 of 72 first-place votes. She then led the Las Vegas Aces on a 16-game winning streak, swept Phoenix in the Finals, and was named both AP and Time Magazine's Female Athlete of the Year. The case closes itself.

But this is the BET Awards. Culture votes too.

Coco Gauff won her second Grand Slam in June 2025, rallying past world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka at Roland Garros to become the first American woman to win the French Open since Serena Williams in 2015. At 21, with two majors already, Gauff belongs in this conversation for sure.

Claressa Shields went 3-0 in 2025-26 and made history that transcends women's boxing. She became the first boxer of any gender to hold undisputed status in three weight classes in the four-belt era. The GOAT is 18-0 and still, somehow, underappreciated.

Angel Reese is the three-time defending champion and an obvious favorite. She averaged 14.7 points and a league-best 12.6 rebounds per game in 2025 (the second straight year she averaged a double-double), even as the Chicago Sky finished 10-34. She's a star on a bad team, which BET voters have rewarded before.  

Sha'Carri Richardson anchored Team USA to 4x100m gold at the World Athletics Championships after a season interrupted by injury. Gabby Thomas (triple Olympic gold medalist from Paris 2024) missed Worlds entirely with an Achilles injury. Naomi Osaka reached her first Grand Slam quarterfinal since becoming a mom, while Jordan Chiles and Flau'jae Johnson represent the next wave. Chiles is a gymnast that the internet never stopped rooting for, and Johnson is a hooper-rapper rewriting what a college athlete can be. Their time is coming.

No matter who wins, the award is well-earned, and women’s sports win regardless. Wilson built an all-time season, and Reese owns this award like it has her name on it. We’ll see who actually gets their name engraved on June 28 at the BET Awards 2026.