"They robbed StudBudz" - WNBA fans erupt as Atlanta Dream's Naz Hillmon clinches 6POY race with lopsided margin against Natisha Hiedeman

On Saturday, the WNBA announced Naz Hillmon as the winner of the Sixth Player of the Year award. Starting from Sept. 15, the league announced its end-of-season award winners for the entire week.

The first award announced was the Most Improved Player, won by the Golden State Valkyries guard Veronica Burton. Hillmon is the latest winner in the lineup. However, fans were not impressed by the result.

After the winner announcement, they flooded social media with their opinions.

"Wow….they robbed Stud Bud," one fan commented. "hiedeman was robbed…." another fan said. "Hiedeman got snubbed, she had multiple 20 point games off the bench. Hillmon was literally a starter for half the season. Istg it’s rigged af," another fan said.

One fan apologised to Naz Hillmon before saying that Natisha Hiedeman was more deserving of the award.

"Congrats to her and I’m sorry if what I’m about to say hurts her in anyway if she reads this, but that belong to Natisha Hiedeman this year and I think we all knew that. Not a starter and still VERY MUCH contributing to taking her team to the championship," the fan commented. "Hiedeman got robbed," another fan said. "Bruhhhh they just played in NATISHA face," another fan said.

Naz Hillmon and Natisha Hiedeman were both exceptional bench players this season. In terms of appearances, Hiedeman was more used as a pure off-the-bench scorer. The Lynx guard played 44 games but started none. On the other hand, Hillmon also played 44 games and started 17.

In terms of their averages, Hiedeman averaged 9.1 points, 1.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game on 49.2% shooting from the field. Hillmon, on the other hand, averaged 8.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game on 46.3% shooting from the field.

Naz Hillmon makes history after winning 6POY honor

The 2025 WNBA season has been a special one for Naz Hillmon as she set the record for most appearances for a Dream player. This year, Hillmon came off the bench 27 times and started 17 games. In doing so, she set a franchise record for appearing in the most consecutive contests (150).

Last week, Hillmon won the AP Sixth Player of the Year award, making her the only player in Dream history to win both honors. Hillmon is also the first player to win the WNBA's 6POY with the Dream. As a winner of the prestigious honor, the Dream forward will receive $5,150 and a trophy designed to commemorate her achievement.

Edited by Satagni Sikder