Alyssa Thomas Hits Season Milestone Nobody Has Reached Before

Alyssa Thomas now stands alone in WNBA record books as the only player to ever record 175 assists and 150 rebounds in her first 20 games of a season.

Jul 27, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) controls the ball in the fourth quarter against the Washington Mystics at CareFirst Arena. Mandatory Credit: Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images / Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

Simply put, Phoenix Mercury All-Star forward Alyssa Thomas is having a historic season and has planted herself firmly in the 2025 WNBA MVP conversation. She's already reached the top 10 all-time in assists this season, as well as 14th in rebounds, and 17th in steals (and climbing, in all three categories), in addition to being the league's all-time triple-doubles leader (with three times as many as Sabrina Ionescu in second place), and in Sunday night's game against the Mystics, she put up a historic stat line that nobody but her has hit before, with 27 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals.

Well, now she's created yet another benchmark that nobody else has ever reached. In that same game, the inimitable player known as The Engine became the first player in league history to have 175 assists and 150 rebounds through her first 20 games in a season.

The league has its fair share of skilled bigs with playmaking ability who can make sharp passes to set up teammates, but AT is something else entirely. She's a legitimate big on the defensive glass, despite standing just 6'2", (just two inches taller than point guard Paige Bueckers), who wins battles down low with her strength and competitiveness, but is a legitimate lead ballhandler on the offensive end, running offense and setting up her teammates like a point guard, despite having the shooting range and shot profile of a fairly traditional center.

Jul 27, 2025; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas (25) controls the ball while Washington Mystics forward Shakira Austin (0) defends in the first quarter at CareFirst Arena. Mandatory Credit: Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images / Emily Faith Morgan-Imagn Images

Thomas is the current league leader in assists over Caitlin Clark by a fairly comfortable margin, and is a full 3.3 assists per game ahead of Minnesota's Courtney Williams in third place, all while being tied for sixth in the league in rebounds per game, with 8 a night, despite only being the third tallest Mercury player in the starting lineup.

Her relentlessness and tenacity has fueled the Mercury's stellar 16-9 start, and has kept the team afloat even amidst a rash of injuries that has kept them from full strength. If a now-healthy Phoenix squad can make a late push up to second in the standings, ahead of the New York Liberty, there's a real chance she could take home her first-ever MVP award (she's been runner-up in 2023, back with the Connecticut Sun).

At this point in the season, she's pulling off something historic practically every week, and it'll be fun to see what new milestone she hits next.

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