With the regular season quickly coming to a close, here's our vote for the WNBA's annual awards:

Most Valuable Player

	Swoopes

	Catchings

While Los Angeles' Lisa Leslie is still incredibly valuable to her team, the race for this award should come down to Houston's Sheryl Swoopes and Indiana's Tamika Catchings, who coincidentally are two players back for their first full season since suffering torn ACLs. The Fever wouldn't even have been a playoff contender this season without Catchings' stellar rookie performance. She plays hard every minute and has come up big night after night. Catchings, who scored 32 points in a win over Orlando on Wednesday in what might be Indiana's biggest game of the regular season, averages 18.9 points per game (second in the league), 8.7 rebounds (fourth), 1.35 blocks. She also ranks first in overall points (585), 3-point field goals made (75), steals per game (2.97) and overall steals (92), and second in overall rebounds (269). Catchings is shooting 42.7 percent from the field, 81.3 percent at the foul line.

Swoopes' statistics are equally impressive -- she ranks fourth in points with a 18.8 average, first in field goals made (217), third in steals (2.77) and third in total points (583). Swoopes, the league MVP in 2000, has played more minutes than any other WNBA player (1,130), and her grit, toughness and leadership are pretty remarkable. Swoopes, who shoots 43.7 percent from the field and 82.5 percent at the free-throw line, is the definition of the ultimate star and you can't help but have an incredible respect for her game.

Why won't Leslie repeat as MVP? Blame it on Sparks teammate Mwadi Mabika. Prior to this season, Leslie was the only player in L.A.'s history to ever lead the team in scoring. Leslie's numbers are still up there -- she's scoring 16.7 points per game and grabbing 10.4 rebounds, but Mabika has lifted her game to another level this summer and is leading the Sparks in scoring (17.2 ppg). There's another person sharing the load this season, and Mabika has simply taken some pressure -- not to mention attention -- off of Leslie's shoulders.

In WNBA and NBA history, the only rookies ever to be MVP were Wilt Chamberlain of the Philadelphia Warriors in 1960 and Wes Unseld of the Baltimore Bullets in 1969.

Rookie of the Year
Everybody says this award is going to Seattle's Sue Bird, who was the No. 1 overall draft pick last April. And while I'm a huge fan of Bird's game, I don't understand how Catchings can be touted as an MVP candidate but not be considered the favorite for the league's top rookie. Both Seattle and Indiana are expansion teams and both have played their teams into playoff contention. But Catchings is just remarkable and should win this award.

Coach of the Year

	Adubato

Earlier this season, this award looked to belong to Washington's Marianne Stanley in a runaway. Even Linda Hargrove was garnering some attention back when Portland was 14-9 But now, New York's Richie Adubato gets the nod. Everybody was writing off New York, saying the Liberty was too old. But Adubato has done a great job, and while so many other teams are backing into the playoffs, New York is playing better than ever. Adubato has a lot to do with that. His peers really feel he's one of the best at exploiting matchups. He has a wealth of knowledge, knows how to prepare his team and always seems to shine this time of year.

Defensive Player of the Year

	Black

Swoopes could win it, but Miami's Debbie Black also is a very strong contender. She won the award last season, and has been just as relentless this summer. If you polled the other players in the league, they'd probably tell you that Black is the one player they least like to play against. As the first line of defense, she usually forces you to start your offense farther out than you'd like and with 20 seconds on the clock instead of 30. And if the ball's in the post, don't dare put it down -- you might as well just pencil in another steal to her stat line. Black ranks 11th in the league in total steals (54) and 10th in steals per game (1.74). The Sol's all-time leader in assists also is the all-time WNBA leader in steal-to-turnover ratio. Black has averaged 2.13 steals over her four-year WNBA career (127 games).

Comeback Player of the Year

	Johns

New York forward Tamika Whitmore and Miami forward Pollyanna Johns are the favorites. This summer, Whitmore has slimmed down, got in shape and played incredibly hard on both ends. Through 31 games, she's averaging 12.5 points, a big increase from her 7.1 scoring average a year ago. Her numbers also have slightly increased in rebounding, assists, steals and blocks, and she's shooting 48 percent from the field, up from 43.2 percent accuracy in 2001. However, Johns might have the edge. Whitmore -- as well as other contenders Tamicha Jackson and Kelly Miller -- was supposed to be good this season. But Johns has gone from a bench warmer to a starter, and without this former free agent, the Sol most likely wouldn't have even been in playoff contention, especially considering the absence of Elena Baranova and Ruth Riley's injury. Through 30 games, Johns is averaging 26.6 minutes per game (up from just 6.6 minutes last season) and playing her tail off. She's not a star, but she has done what her team needed her to do. Last season, she averaged just 1.6 points and 1.7 boards, but Johns is tallying 7.0 ppg and 4.5 rpg with a 52.1 shooting percentage from the field.

ESPN analyst and Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman is a former WNBA coach, general manager and player. She is a regular contributor to ESPN.com's women's basketball coverage.