MINNEAPOLIS — Alanna Smith was one of the feel good stories of the 2024 WNBA Season. A player who it seemed the league tried to move on from in 2022, she came back the following year to prove she belonged with the Chicago Sky, signed with the Minnesota Lynx in 2024, and paired it with a trip to the WNBA Finals and a 2nd-team All-Defense selection.
Happy ending, right? Please — she’s just getting to the good part.
Smith turned the page on last season towards an even-better chapter of her story in 2025. She’s become one of the league’s premier defenders and shot blockers. As of games played through August 12, she’s blocked more shots (63) than anyone else in the league besides her Australian national team teammate Ezi Magbegor (65). Additionally, her 105 stocks (steals plus blocks) are tied for most in the league with A’ja Wilson. Smith’s teammate and reigning Defensive Player of the Year, Napheesa Collier, is third in the league in stocks with 88.
“Alanna Smith is just incredible,” Lynx head coach and president of basketball operations Cheryl Reeve said after Minnesota’s 83-71 road win against the New York Liberty on Sunday. “You don’t come to a basketball game and go, ‘that’s not one of the best defensive players in the league.’ She’s just incredible in terms of how she impacts play, and what you have to think about when she’s in your area.”
Smith has been a menace on the defensive end all season. Her 94.0 defensive rating is best in the league and one percentage point better than Collier’s 94.1. She’s also the type of player who only seems to get better when the matchups get tougher. This was on display particularly in Minnesota’s last two games against New York, when Smith was primarily responsible for covering the reigning Finals MVP Jonquel Jones.
“I’m a really competitive person, so whenever I get the chance to play against high caliber players like Jonquel it kind of sets off that competitive alarm, like, ‘okay I have to really lock in now,’ I want to take that challenge head on,” Smith said in an interview with The Next on August 4th. “It’s really cool being part of the WNBA to defend players like that and play against players like Jonquel, who are majorly successful, highly talented players. You have to look at it with a sense of excitement. Like, ‘this is really cool.’ Then when you’re successful it just gets your confidence going and it’s the beauty of a team sport as well. That energy is infectious.”
Minnesota beat the Liberty 100-93 in their first meeting with the defending champs on July 30 at Target Center. It was a game in which Jones went 20 minutes between points, a game that the Lynx held control of from the second quarter onwards.
“‘Lan was great,” Reeve said postgame. “‘Lan takes pride in, we always talk about how competitive she is, and she takes pride in her one-on-one matchup. Obviously, JJ is difficult to play against, and ‘Lan was just really attentive to the spot she’d like to get to and how she was going to counter that. Her defense was exceptional, she had seven deflections on the game, three blocks, ‘Lan was really valuable.
“…I do think about, she was good last year, [she’s] clearly one of the best defensive players in the league, so an all-defensive nod would obviously be an end of season award for her. We count on her heavily.”
Minnesota has certainly relied on Smith to achieve a defensive rating of 97.9, the best defensive rating in the league by three points (the Atlanta Dream have the second-best rating at 100.9) through nearly 75% of the season. They also lead the league in blocks at 5.1 per game and are third in steals at 8.3 per game. Smith is the only player in the league this year to tally six steals in a single game as well as six blocks in a single game. She’s posted nine such games with 2+ steals and 2+ blocks, and has tallied 4+ stocks on 12 occasions in 2025.
“I think right now, in the scope of the league, Lan is the most underrated for what she does,” teammate Kayla McBride said after the team’s practice on Wednesday, August 13. “She’s on the best team in the league, but she probably does more and puts her body on the line more than any of us. We’re not sitting at 27-5 without Lan and it starts on defense. She takes responsibility for the best post player, deflections, rebounds, steals, her and Phee are always our deflection winners. I just think it’s very underrated what she does, especially on the defensive end.
“I think just looking at the 3rd quarter of that New York game she changed everything, getting us deflections,” McBride continued. “She just has no fear, and I think that’s what you need in your defensive players especially as post players, and I think she’s been one of the best all year.”
Smith established herself as a player who more than belonged in this league with the Sky in 2023. Her 2024 season with the Lynx saw her soar to new heights as ‘one of’ the best defensive players in the league. And closing in on the end of the 2025 regular season, she’s at the doorstep of one of the highest honors a league can bestow upon a player.
“She holds herself to such a high standard,” McBride said. “She’s harder on herself than anybody else can be on her. We see that every day in practice. She’s just working, grinding, she wants to be great for us, and that’s what you guys see. It’s just a combination of her work, her mentality, and just putting her body on the line. She’s going against people bigger than her. I guess, technically stronger than her, and she just never backs down. She just wants to make those plays and she wants to be in those moments and she has been. She’s stepped up huge for us all season.”
No franchise in WNBA history has earned consecutive Defensive Player of the Year awards for two different players. Smith is not one to sing her own praises louder than she does for her teammates, so when she was asked if she felt like she’s been playing like the Defensive Player of the Year, she offered few words, but a direct response.
“I think I’ve played myself into contention, yeah, definitely,” Smith told The Next after pausing for a laugh. “It’s something that I’ve made a big focus on for this year, and we’ve still got a chunk of season left to go, so I’m excited to further my case.”
Smith may have been laughing when she answered the question, but for players across the WNBA in 2025, getting the ball in their hands with No. 8 lurking somewhere close by has hardly been a laughing matter.
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