How A’ja Wilson powered the Aces with another MVP-caliber season

A group of select fans watched A’ja Wilson’s every move at T-Mobile Arena as she ripped off her A’Ones and jogged around the court in her socks, stopping occasionally to greet team personnel on her way to address the eager audience.

Their gaze followed the Aces star like a crowd collectively traces the ball at a tennis match, and there wasn’t a hint of fatigue in Wilson’s stride despite her being minutes removed from completing a full workout in front of them. As soon as she got close enough for a microphone to be thrust into her hand, they burst into applause.

It was a Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas, and the Aces had invited certain season ticket holders to the arena to watch one of their final practices of the regular season before they closed their home schedule with back-to-back games against the Chicago Sky.

Faced with a question submitted by the group about how she handled negativity throughout what began as a tumultuous season for the Aces, Wilson offered an eloquent answer about avoiding the internet and staying “poised through the noise.”

“Thank you, guys! Tell a friend they’ve got to be here tomorrow,” Wilson said to close her remarks. “It’s almost playoff time, so we need the energy.”

Unbeknownst to those fans, Wilson was wrapping up the most difficult professional year she’s encountered since the Aces drafted her out of South Carolina with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft.

“This was probably the lowest trenches that I’ve ever been in in my whole career. And we didn’t even make the playoffs my rookie year,” Wilson said.

The year got so difficult that fans began to speculate Wilson would leave the Aces in free agency as the team hovered below .500 before the WNBA All-Star break.

Wilson sees humor in it.

“I see everything. People send me stuff, even my mom, and I laugh,” she said. “I think everyone knows where my heart is. And my heart’s always going to be in Vegas. So if I leave here, it’s because they sent me away. Know that. Because I love it. This is my second home, and I don’t see myself leaving.”

The Aces surely wouldn’t have been in postseason contention without Wilson’s dominance. She powered a 16-game regular-season win streak — the longest to close a campaign in WNBA history — and led the league in points (23.4) and blocks (2.3) for the second straight year.

It’s a level of sustained excellence that people have come to expect from the 29-year-old. Which is why it came as no surprise that Wilson was named one of five finalists for the MVP award Friday.

The other finalists were Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, Atlanta Dream guard Allisha Gray, Indiana Fever guard Kelsey Mitchell and Phoenix Mercury forward Alyssa Thomas.

The winner will be announced Sunday before the Aces, who recovered to earn the No. 2 seed for the playoffs, open the best-of-five semifinals against the Indiana Fever at Michelob Ultra Arena. Wilson is a prohibitive favorite to win the award for a league-record fourth time.

MVP or not

As Wilson fulfilled the post-practice duties of a franchise player, Aces coach Becky Hammon sang her praises from a courtside seat.

Hammon has been on a warpath about the way Wilson is evaluated by the media. She’s incensed by the idea that Wilson is held up to a different measuring stick than her peers.

“This is not: Everyone gets an award,” Hammon said. “I’m sorry that you all were born at the same time as this player. Because she’s not just generational. She’s beyond generations. She’s going to be the greatest ever. This should be her fifth MVP. And it’s nobody’s business whether it’s her 13th or her first. Give it to who deserves it. Period.”

One national reporter justified their vote for Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier over Wilson by arguing via social media that the responsibility of a multitime MVP is to “keep outdoing yourself.”

For Aces point guard Chelsea Gray, an analyst in past offseasons, it’s obvious how Wilson has evolved. She’s embraced more possessions as a ball handler by shaking people in full-court situations and bringing the ball up more. She also shot more 3-pointers this year.

“Those are two big things,” said Gray, adding that voters also should have looked at Wilson’s assists numbers, which led the Aces in the first half of the season.

Seattle Storm veteran Nneka Ogwumike didn’t struggle to find ways Wilson has grown, either.

“She’s evolved into feeling more comfortable as a scorer anywhere on the floor,” Ogwumike said before Wilson showcased that trait and helped the Aces eliminate the Storm in the first round of the playoffs. “She’s extending her range and her versatility, especially in initiating offense. And as a player who gets a lot of attention, she’s not succumbing to whatever the defensive scheme is but figuring out how to be effective in different ways.”

Battling injuries

Wilson made a beeline to her parents, Roscoe Wilson and Eva Rakes Wilson, after the Aces eliminated the Storm on Thursday.

Wilson embraced them before yelling “Come on!” into her father’s face, clearly impassioned by the win and her parents’ support.

An hour before the game tipped off, Rakes Wilson sat with anticipation from her usual courtside seat at Michelob Ultra Arena. She was set to help accept the Defensive Player of the Year award from the WNBA on Wilson’s behalf, but admitted that external validation isn’t something she worries about.

“I don’t talk to her a whole lot about it, because she knows I’m proud,” Rakes Wilson said. “All that other stuff is good, but it’s OK if you don’t get it, because you’re giving it your all.”

Instead, Rakes Wilson said she had to worry more this year than ever about Wilson’s health, struggling to hold herself back from rushing onto the court when Wilson has gone down hard on numerous occasions.

Wilson called it the most injury-riddled year of her professional career, even though she missed only four games.

“I’m normally pretty solid, but this year was just different,” she said.

She missed one game because of a sprained right wrist and three with a concussion. Her wrist could be treated with medication and taping, but there was no way out of her required time in concussion protocol.

Wilson tried to attend an Aces game incognito with her boyfriend, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, while sidelined with the concussion. But fans easily spotted the couple watching from the owner’s suite.

“God bless Bam, because I was up there screaming at him in lowercase, just making faces,” Wilson said. “He was like, ‘Is this going to be OK for you? Do we need to leave?’ Because obviously my health is No. 1 when it comes to him, but I needed that. I really needed to see my team and to let them know that even though I’m not there, I’m still there and supporting them.”

Finding chemistry

Wilson spent her offseason in Miami and worked out with each member of the team’s amended “Core Four” after Kelsey Plum was traded to the Los Angeles Sparks. She and Loyd logged multiple sessions at the University of Miami before Gray and guard Jackie Young joined them.

“We wanted to really just push each other. I remember just being super hot in that sweaty gym with no air conditioning, just us sweating and grinding it out,” Loyd said. “We were just learning each other.”

Those sessions gave the group something to draw from when things got difficult.

Before the season, Wilson posted on social media that she wouldn’t be shedding any tears in postgame news conferences like she did in 2024. Although this season has tested her, she’s stayed true to that.

“It was the mixture of my family and my teammates just making sure that I was just even-keeled, levelheaded through it all,” Wilson said. “Sometimes it is hard to wake up and you’re losing games, and people are like pointing their finger at you and trying to figure out what’s wrong. If you don’t have those answers, it makes you question a lot. But my family and my teammates really helped me realize that I don’t need to question (expletive). All I had to do is be ready.”

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