It’s time for another entry in our WNBA Tuesday miniseries as we take on the last season before the Covid pandemic, a season that saw the Washington Mystics win their first and only league championship. In fact, the franchise has not won a playoff series since winning it all in 2019. Alas, that is sometimes the way it goes; the fun part of sports history is finding little nuggets like that and exploring why there are what they are.

2019 WNBA MVP: Elena Delle Donne, F/G, Washington (original, confirmed)

Mystics forward/guard Elena Delle Donne won the MVP vote after dominating the PER (31.8) and WS (7.7) sabermetrics, with no one else in the league coming near her production/value levels. In fact, the next-best player in PER was 4.5 points behind, while the next-best player in WS was more than 2 wins distant. Washington posted 26 victories, which was three more than any other team, and Delle Donne was why.

The closest competitor combo in the two sabermetric areas really can’t hold a candle here, so we confirm. This was the second time Delle Donne won the MVP vote with us confirming it; she also won the ROTY vote in 2013, although she has not won any other awards in real life or here … yet.

2019 WNBA ROTY: Napheesa Collier, F, Minnesota (original, confirmed)

Minnesota Lynx F Napheesa Collier (5.2 WS) won the ROTY vote; the closest rookie to that sabermetric mark was almost 50 percent behind Collier, so we confirm this award. With the Lynx sinking to an 18-16 record, she might have been the difference between a playoff spot and an early end to the season for her team. Oh, and as we must point out, Caitlin Clark and her mere 3.0 WS in six more games? Weak sauce.

2019 WNBA DPOY: Natasha Howard, F, Minnesota (original, confirmed)

Also helping her team into the postseason was Seattle Storm F Natasha Howard, who was tops in the WNBA for DWS (2.6) on her way to winning the DPOY vote. The Storm had the same record as the Lynx, and if we eliminate teammates who each posted more than 2.0 DWS, our only other possibilities here are Los Angeles Sparks F Nneka Ogwumike (2.4) and Las Vegas Aces center Liz Cambage (2.0). This is about value.

Both the Sparks and the Aces finished with better records than the Storm, so we confirm this vote.

2019 WNBA FINALS MVP: Emma Meesseman, C, Washington (original, confirmed)

The Mystics posted a 6-3 record in the playoffs, beating the Aces in four games to advance to the Finals against the Connecticut Sun, who they beat in five games. C Emma Meesseman (1.5 WS) won the vote here; Delle Donne (1.2) was the only other player to surpass 1.0 WS in the postseason, so we again confirm the vote. This is the first time ever in this miniseries where we have confirmed all four vote winners. Shocking!