{"id":199823,"date":"2025-10-09T09:48:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-09T09:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/199823\/"},"modified":"2025-10-09T09:48:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T09:48:08","slug":"watching-aja-wilson-is-a-privilege-we-shouldnt-take-for-granted","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/199823\/","title":{"rendered":"Watching A\u2019ja Wilson is a privilege we shouldn\u2019t take for granted"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"play\"<\/p>\n

A\u2019ja Wilson breaks down game-winning shot as Aces take 3-0 lead over Mercury<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Aces star A’ja Wilson hit a clutch shot in the final moments of Game 3 to give her team a commanding 3-0 lead over the Mercury.<\/p>\n

Sports Pulse<\/p>\n

Whatever superlatives are used to describe A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> and her game, they are not enough.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Aces<\/a> center is more than the four-time MVP. More than the WNBA\u2019s most prolific scorer and its most suffocating defender. She\u2019s the best player on the planet right now, in that rare territory previously occupied by the likes of Bill Russell, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Michael Jordan and LeBron James.<\/p>\n

The Las Vegas Aces are on the verge of their third title in four years<\/a> because of Wilson. Her stepback jumper with Alyssa Thomas and DeWanna Bonner in her face with 0.3 seconds left Wednesday night is one of those instantly iconic plays, a shot that little girls, and boys, will spend hours in their driveways and backyards trying to recreate.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just drew up a play. It wasn\u2019t really even a play,\u201d Wilson said, referring to Aces coach Becky Hammon.<\/p>\n

The play?<\/p>\n

\u201cGive the ball to A\u2019ja and get out of the way,\u201d Hammon said, laughing because it was so obvious.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m appreciative Becky trusts me in those moments,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThose are moments you live for.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course Hammon trusts Wilson. She\u2019d be a fool not to. Wilson has clutch in her DNA and ice in her veins, delivering in every big moment she\u2019s been in. The NCAA title at South Carolina. Las Vegas\u2019 previous two WNBA championships. The Paris Olympics last year<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Now these Finals, where Wilson is the first player in WNBA history with consecutive games of 25 or more points and 10 or more rebounds.<\/p>\n

Wilson had 34 points and 14 boards, as well as four assists and three blocks, in the 90-88 win, which gave Las Vegas a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Game 4 is Friday night at Mortgage Market Center in Phoenix (8 p.m. ET, ESPN).<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just feels a little bit better, obviously, because it\u2019s the Finals,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThese are the moments that you dream of, these are just the times that you see on TV sometimes. You\u2019re watching and you\u2019re like, `Oh my God, to be in that building.\u2019 It\u2019s truly powerful.\u201d<\/p>\n

Like those legends who came before her, Wilson\u2019s dominance has become so expected it\u2019s almost underappreciated<\/a>. Of course she\u2019s going to have a double-double. Of course she\u2019s going to shut down the opposing team\u2019s best player. Of course she\u2019s going to deliver the game-winning shot.<\/p>\n

But to take Wilson\u2019s skills, savvy and smoothness for granted is to miss out on watching greatness in real time. How many times have you wished you could have seen Russell play? Or tried to recall what it was like when Jordan took over games? You have that chance now with Wilson.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s what made her shot Wednesday night so spectacular. It was a slap-in-the-face, pour-water-on-your-head reminder of how lucky we are to be watching Wilson in her prime. She will be the best women\u2019s basketball player of all time \u2014 and one of the best to play the game, period \u2014 by the time her career is over, and we have a front-row seat.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, with Bonner making a pair of free throws to tie the game with 1:01 to play. On the next possession, Wilson was cutting beneath the basket when the ball slipped from her hands and went out of bounds with 40 seconds left.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy biggest thing was I had to get it back,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cThat would have crushed my whole soul to know that (cost Las Vegas the game) because that\u2019s just something I don\u2019t do.<\/p>\n

\u201cBecky trusts me, so I\u2019ve got to make something happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Thomas missed a layup with 20 seconds left, and the Aces got the rebound. Wanting to ensure Las Vegas got the last shot, Hammon called a timeout with five seconds left. Chelsea Gray inbounded the ball to Wilson, as expected, and Thomas and Bonner squared up to try and keep her from getting a look.<\/p>\n

Wilson drove toward Bonner and, seeing no opening, spun around to create space. She elevated and took her shot as she leaned backward, the ball arcing over Thomas and Bonner. As the ball swished through the net, Wilson took several steps backward, roaring and sticking her tongue out in triumph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really see who was in front of me. I didn\u2019t care,\u201d Wilson told ESPN after the game. \u201cThis is the Finals, you\u2019ve got to make shots.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of course she did. That’s what the greats do, and Wilson is one of the greatest of them all.<\/p>\n

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A\u2019ja Wilson breaks down game-winning shot as Aces take 3-0 lead over Mercury Las Vegas Aces star A’ja…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":199824,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[629],"tags":[8446,4662,84166,10228,26676,4652,461,28670,49,48,562,12199,1329,28669,16298,1161,3049,63448,2561,20352,8722,75607,84161,1458,3460,24607,2327,8456,17234,3004,44,927,10232,1333,1345,8455,3461,36547,1334,82,865,25542,1459,8447,630,26214,4134,4143],"class_list":["post-199823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wnba","tag-aja","tag-aja-wilson","tag-abdul-jabbar","tag-aces","tag-alyssa","tag-alyssa-thomas","tag-basketball","tag-bonner","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-chelsea","tag-chelsea-gray","tag-content","tag-dewanna","tag-dewanna-bonner","tag-espn","tag-espn-inc","tag-gray","tag-inc","tag-james","tag-jordan","tag-kareem","tag-kareem-abdul-jabbar","tag-las","tag-las-vegas-aces","tag-lebron","tag-lebron-james","tag-mercury","tag-michael","tag-michael-jordan","tag-news","tag-opinion","tag-opinion-content","tag-overall","tag-overall-positive","tag-phoenix","tag-phoenix-mercury","tag-playoffs","tag-positive","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-thomas","tag-vegas","tag-wilson","tag-wnba","tag-wnba-playoffs","tag-womens","tag-womens-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=199823"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199823\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/199824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=199823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=199823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=199823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}