Fastest to 5K: Wilson makes history in blowout Aces win — PHOTOS

Fans in Michelob Ultra Arena frantically rose to their feet to recognize the moment. Even though the clock was still running, players on the court made their way to A’ja Wilson to do the same.

Chelsea Gray, who committed a seemingly intentional foul to buy some time to celebrate, ran over and playfully shoved Wilson. Wilson slapped the ground in response. Even opponent Tina Charles made a point to hug her.

The three-time MVP had just cemented a new place in WNBA record books by becoming the fastest player in league history to reach 5,000 career points as the Aces beat the Connecticut Sun 85-59 on Wednesday.

Wilson finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. Jackie Young added 20 points for the Aces (7-7), while Gray scored 15.

“It meant a lot to me. It’s been a special season for us,” Wilson said. “It’s been a lot of ups and downs, but when you can hit a milestone like this in a league like this, I can’t let it go unnoticed. So I’m grateful. I’m blessed.”

The 28-year old reached the milestone in her 238th game with 4:04 remaining in the second quarter. It was her fourth field goal of the night.

The previous record was held by Breanna Stewart, who recorded 5,000 points in 242 games. The third-fastest was Diana Taurasi (243), who retired earlier this year as the WNBA’s career scoring leader with 10,646 points.

Last year, Wilson became the first player to score 1,000 points in a season, breaking now-teammate Jewell Loyd’s mark of 939 in 2023.

Wednesday was a seventh straight loss for the Sun (2-13), who were led by 18 points from the veteran center Charles.

Coachable superstar

Wilson was given a baby to sign after the wire-to-wire victory, one of the many illustrations of her superstar status.

Gatorade announced during the game that it was releasing a limited edition bottle in honor of her accomplishment. She came into the postgame news conference carrying an exclusive pair of green A’Ones, her Nike signature shoe. Wilson emblazoned them with “5K” and the date.

She said it was the first time she’d ever written on a pair of her own shoes, that she’ll never wear that specific pair again (although she has many) and that they were inspired by Tiana from Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog.”

“That movie teaches me a lot of lessons,” Wilson said. “And sometimes when I need a pick-me-up, I always watch ‘The Princess and the Frog.’ It’s pretty good. I suggest everyone check it out.”

Despite Wilson’s many brand endorsements and sponsorships, Aces coach Becky Hammon noted that Wilson “never gets her priorities mixed up.”

“We’re talking about points, but she’s equally as good on the defensive end. She’s just a really special player. She wants to be great. I can coach her hard. She wants to be told the truth,” Hammon said. “I can look around the league and a lot of other leagues where superstars don’t really want it. They say they want it. They don’t really want the truth. She’s somebody who really wants the truth.”

‘A lot of work to do’

The Aces are still in search of what Hammon is calling the “unicorn” of a solid 40-minute game, and Hammon was quick to emphasize after Wednesday’s game that she surely hadn’t seen it yet.

Loyd finished with 13 points, eight of which she scored in a 19-0 run from the Aces to open the game. Although the Aces never trailed, the Sun cut the deficit to 40-36 with eight minutes left in the third quarter.

“Our offense was trash,” Hammon said of the stretch that allowed the Sun to threaten the Aces’ lead. “You can’t have those lapses where you’re not scoring and they’re scoring, and that’s really what was happening. But when we’re organized and we set screens, and we somewhat know what everybody’s doing, we’re much more efficient.”

Hammon made it clear pregame that while she marvels at Wilson’s accomplishments as a fan, she wasn’t going to let the moment distract from her expectation of Wilson and her teammates on the night.

That was illustrated when Hammon declined to call a timeout as Wilson was celebrated.

“Great job. Good job. Keep it pushing,” Hammon quipped postgame of her reaction to Wilson’s 5,001st point. “Believe me. She probably wants to keep it pushing, too. Great milestone for her. Obviously impressive. It’s interesting. She gets all these individual numbers and accolades, but I can tell you, she would trade them in a second for winning.”

Wilson echoed that sentiment as she looked forward to the Aces’ next game, which will be a back-to-back against the Washington Mystics on Thursday.

“I’m definitely gonna cherish this moment, because it’s been a lot of fun,” Wilson said. “But obviously we got a lot of work to do.”

Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.