UCLA Women's Basketball: Former Bruin Narrowly Misses Out On WNBA Hardware

Former UCLA Bruins standout Jordin Canada, now with her hometown Los Angeles Sparks, was long considered a favorite to claim Most Improved Player honors after a career-best 2023 WNBA season.

Unfortunately, she got about as close as you can come without actually winning the award this year, and unless she takes another leap, say to All-Star status, it seems unlikely she'll have as good a shot at the honor ever again.

Per Alexa Philippou of ESPN, the 5'6" guard finished second in voting this season to Dallas Wings forward Satou Sabally. A first-time All-Star starter this season, Sabbally notched 37 of 60 votes from assorted journalists. The 6'4" frontcourt stalwart averaged career bests of 18.6 points, 8.1 boards, 4.4 dimes and 1.8 steals a night.

Canada, meanwhile, earned 18 votes, while averaging 13.3 points on .404/.333/.873 shooting splits, 6.0 assists, 3.1 rebounds, and an insane 2.3 steals a night. On the other side of the ball, she emerged as one of the best perimeter defenders in the game, to the point where LA pushed her for potential All-Defensive Team honors.

In college, Canada was a three-time Pac-12 All-Defense and All-Pac-12 selection, an Associated Press All-American, and the 2018-18 Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year, but her growth at the WNBA level took a bit longer, after she was drafted to a stacked Seattle Storm team in 2018.

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