Elizabeth Williams’ Most Improved Player Award: What Season Was That?
Elizabeth Williams won the WNBA’s Most Improved Player award in 2016, her first season with the Atlanta Dream. If you searched “ elizabeth williams most improved player 2016 what season was that,” the short answer is the 2016 WNBA season. The more useful answer is that Williams made her case through a bigger role, reliable interior defense and a jump in production—not by suddenly becoming a different kind of player.
That distinction matters. Williams was already a capable defender before Atlanta gave her a larger opportunity. In 2016, she turned that foundation into a standout season, becoming a central part of a Dream team that reached the playoffs. Her rise is a good lens for looking at Atlanta’s history, how to rank its players fairly and why defense belongs in any serious discussion of franchise greats.
What changed for Williams in 2016?
Williams was the fourth overall pick in the 2015 WNBA Draft, selected by the Connecticut Sun. Her rookie season was a short introduction: she appeared in 17 games, averaging about 3.3 points and 3.2 rebounds. The following year, Atlanta brought her in and gave her far more responsibility. She appeared in 34 games, started most of them, and raised her scoring and rebounding while establishing herself as a major shot-blocking presence.
That is the essential context behind most improved player 2016. The award recognized a player whose role and impact grew sharply from one season to the next. Williams was not just getting more minutes and filling a box score; she was becoming a dependable interior anchor. She earned All-Defensive First Team recognition as well as Most Improved Player, a useful reminder that the growth showed up on both ends.
More than a points-per-game story
I've seen this play out countless times: made a mistake that cost them thousands.. Williams’ offensive numbers improved, but scoring alone undersells the season. She screened, rebounded, contested shots and punished opponents who tried to finish near the rim. Her best work often came in possessions that did not end with her name in the box score: a vertical contest that forced a miss, a box-out that let a teammate collect the rebound, or a well-timed rotation that shut off a driving lane.
That combination of shot-blocking and IQ is central to understanding Williams. A block is dramatic, but good defense is not simply a race to swat the ball. It requires reading the ball handler, knowing when to help, keeping position and avoiding a needless foul. Williams’ value came from being able to challenge shots while making sound decisions about where to be. In a player ranking, those repeatable defensive choices deserve more weight than a highlight reel alone.
It is also why a year-to-year comparison needs context. Williams went from a limited rookie role in Connecticut to a much larger assignment in Atlanta. The opportunity helped create the statistical leap; her performance showed she could handle it. Neither point cancels out the other.
Elizabeth Williams and the Atlanta Dream’s franchise story
The Dream joined the WNBA in 2008. Their early history was shaped by star power, ambitious teams and deep postseason runs. Atlanta reached the WNBA Finals in 2010, 2011 and 2013, led in large part by the scoring and competitive force of Angel McCoughtry. Those teams set the franchise’s highest postseason standard and helped establish the Dream as a serious presence in the league.
Want to know something interesting? williams arrived several seasons later, in 2016, during a different chapter. She was not asked to replicate McCoughtry’s role as a high-volume perimeter scorer. Instead, she supplied the interior defense that makes a team’s other strengths more workable. A franchise history is bigger than its Finals teams, and players who help define a later era deserve to be discussed on their own terms.
The Dream’s story since 2008 includes star scorers, defensive specialists, veteran leaders and players who carried important roles without collecting the most public awards. Williams belongs in that fuller account. Her time in Atlanta made her one of the team’s defining frontcourt defenders, and her 2016 award is a marker of the moment her role became much more prominent.
How to treat the 2026 Finals reference
Atlanta’s confirmed Finals appearances in the established franchise record are 2010, 2011 and 2013. A reference to a 2026 Finals run needs current-season verification before it is presented as a fact. The year is not one of the franchise’s three historically established Finals appearances listed above; if Atlanta made the Finals in 2026, that would be a new milestone and should be added with a reliable season record to support it. It is better to make that check than to quietly turn a requested year into an unsupported franchise claim.
Ranking Dream greats: criteria matter
There is no useful all-time list without clear criteria. A player’s peak, longevity, franchise tenure and postseason contribution measure different things. My preference is to say what a ranking is measuring before handing out numbers. Tenure matters: a brief, brilliant stretch can be remarkable, but it is not the same kind of franchise service as years of production and leadership.
For an Atlanta Dream ranking, I would weigh these factors:
- Franchise tenure: How long did the player contribute in Atlanta, and how much of her career impact belongs to the Dream?
- Production and milestones: How did she rank in points, rebounds, assists, steals, blocks and other meaningful categories?
- Peak performance: How strong was her best season or multi-year stretch?
- Two-way impact: Did she defend, rebound and create value beyond scoring?
- Team contribution: What role did she play in playoff teams and major franchise moments?
Those criteria help keep the conversation from collapsing into a scoring chart or a championship checklist. Atlanta’s 2010, 2011 and 2013 Finals teams matter enormously, but a player does not need a Finals MVP to be important to the franchise. The Dream did not win a title in those runs, and Finals participation by itself cannot settle every ranking. Regular-season excellence, defense and sustained service count too.
Under that framework, Williams’ case is strongest as a high-impact defender and an important Atlanta-era center. She should not be ranked as if a single award automatically puts her above every longer-serving star. Nor should a ranking dismiss her because she was not the leading scorer. The fair question is what she did, for how long, and how much of it she did in a Dream uniform.
Franchise records and statistical milestones
Atlanta’s record book gives the conversation a solid starting point. Angel McCoughtry is the franchise’s defining scoring leader; Sancho Lyttle is among its leading rebounders; and the club’s all-time lists for assists and steals reflect the work of its long-serving guards and wings. These lists can change as players add seasons, so exact totals should always be tied to a date and checked against a current statistical source.. Pretty simple.
For a quick starting point, a StatMuse Dream all-time leading scorer query can help identify Atlanta’s scoring leader and provide a date-sensitive result. Treat it as a research tool, not the only authority: confirm the query’s seasons and totals against the WNBA’s official records or a second statistical source before publishing exact figures.
Likewise, Basketball-Reference is useful for historical context. Its W25 list can help frame broader WNBA history, while an individual player page offers season-by-season statistics for checking a player’s development. For Williams, compare her 2015 rookie line with her 2016 Atlanta season, then look at the defensive recognition attached to that leap. Those sources help separate a real improvement from a claim based only on reputation.
Why the award still matters
Most Improved Player is sometimes treated as a footnote beside MVP, All-WNBA honors or Finals appearances. That misses what it can tell us about a career. Williams’ 2016 award captures the point when a former fourth overall pick moved from a smaller rookie assignment into a major role. It gives the Atlanta chapter a clear starting marker and recognizes the work behind her jump in production.
Her season also makes a broader point about evaluating centers. A player can influence a game without leading the scoring column. Defensive positioning, rim protection, rebounding and communication shape an opponent’s choices. When the ball handler sees a capable shot-blocker waiting inside, the shot attempt may change before it is ever recorded as a block. That is the kind of value a box score can hint at, but not fully explain.
Williams’ example is a reminder to look for the details that make a defensive season credible: minutes, role, consistency, team context and recognition. When comparing players, those details matter more than empty labels such as “dominant” or “underrated.” If a ranking gives no criteria, it is not much of a ranking.
A note on recovery talk and product mentions
Basketball conversations often drift from performance to recovery products. Massage guns are one example: some players and fans use them as part of a warm-up or recovery routine, but they are not a substitute for individualized medical or training advice. CBD products belong in a separate, careful conversation. Anyone considering CBD—including Joy Organics organic CBD gummies—should check ingredients, product testing and relevant league rules, and consult a qualified health professional about personal risks or interactions. Mentioning a product is not a claim that it improves a player’s performance or treats an injury.
The short answer
Elizabeth Williams’ Most Improved Player season was 2016, her first year with the Atlanta Dream. The leap reflected expanded opportunity, stronger production and the defensive presence that made her more than a scoring-line story. In Dream history, she sits in a franchise Continue reading that began in 2008, made Finals runs in 2010, 2011 and 2013, and has been shaped by much more than its biggest scorers. Rank Williams by her Atlanta tenure, her two-way impact and her milestones—not by one trophy alone. And verify any claim of a 2026 Finals run against the completed season record before adding it to the history books.