The 2026 WNBA Finals are all square at 2-2 after the Golden State Valkyries held off the Atlanta Dream's comeback attempt in Game 4. Now, the second best-of-seven Finals series in WNBA history is effectively a best-of-three. The action will resume Monday at Ballhalla with a pivotal Game 5.
Whichever team wins will be one win away from the first title in franchise history. This is the first Finals appearance for the Valkyries, who are only in their second season of existence, and the fourth Finals appearance for the Dream, who were swept in their first three trips. Ahead of Game 5, let's take a look at which player might take home some individual hardware when this series wraps up by ranking the top-five Finals MVP candidates.
Despite a poor showing in Game 4, Reese has been the best player in the series by a wide margin. She put up 30 points and 16 rebounds in Game 2 to join Breanna Stewart and Jonquel Jones as the only players in Finals history with 30-point, 15-rebound games, then went for 21 points and 12 rebounds in Game 3 to join A'ja Wilson as the only players in Finals history with back-to-back 20-point, 10-rebound games. Reese leads all players in points and rebounds, is third in steals and second in blocks.
And among the six players scoring in double figures, she has been by far the most efficient at 47.1% from the field overall, including 3 of 5 from 3-point range; none of the other players averaging at least 10 points per game are shooting better than 37% from the field. In 1969, Jerry West was named NBA Finals MVP even though the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics, which is the only time in NBA or WNBA history that a player has won Finals MVP on a losing team. We could be in that territory here with Reese if she keeps playing as well as she has on both ends of the floor, but the Dream lose the series – especially if they lose it in seven and the remaining games are as competitive as the majority of the first four have been.
Can Williams really win Finals MVP after shooting 30.3% through the first four games? There are only three instances of a player winning the award while shooting under 40% in the series, and Cynthia Cooper in 2000 is the only one to do so while shooting sub-35%. But this has been a bizarre series, and it's hard to dock Williams for shooting poorly when every other top scorer on both teams, aside from Reese, is doing the same.
As ugly as it's been at times, Williams is only one point behind Reese for the series lead and is the only player on the Valkyries to score in double figures in every single game. She also had a game-high 26 points in Game 1 and hit the go-ahead free throws to secure the win for Golden State. Williams hasn't looked completely healthy since late in Game 1, when Jordin Canada crashed into her knee on a free throw box out, but she's tied for second among all players in assists and steals, and has been the protagonist for the Valkyries.
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