A\u2019ja Wilson hurled herself into a huddle of her excited teammates once the final buzzer sounded in their Game 4 road win over the Phoenix Mercury, signaling the completion of a 2025 WNBA Finals sweep for the Aces\u2019 third championship win in four years.<\/p>\n
As the celebratory scene unfolded, it was hard to ignore a sneaky sense of irony in the fact that she and the dynastic Aces have never won a league title on their home court.<\/p>\n
Michelob Ultra Arena is nicknamed \u201cThe House.\u201d And it\u2019s one that Wilson, the league\u2019s first ever four-time MVP, built brick by brick.<\/p>\n
Her dedication to the legacy she\u2019s constructed is why she\u2019s likely to stay put despite being an unrestricted free agent this offseason.<\/p>\n
The 29-year-old center\u2019s reign began in 2018 when the newly relocated Aces made the easy decision to draft her with the No. 1 overall selection out of South Carolina, marking the start of a new chapter in Las Vegas. In eight seasons with Wilson as the face of the franchise, the Aces have secured attendance and ticket sales records to pair with the trophies.<\/p>\n
Three of Wilson\u2019s MVP awards and all of the team\u2019s WNBA titles came after owner Mark Davis bought the team from MGM Resorts International for $2 million in 2021. The franchise was estimated to be worth $310 million this year, and Davis had no shortage of words to describe Wilson\u2019s role in his investment increasing 15,400 percent in value.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo have her on this franchise, I would put it in the terms of a Michael Jordan. I\u2019d put it in the terms of (Wayne) Gretzky, and any other player that totally dominated their sport in their day. There\u2019s no doubt that she\u2019s the greatest player in the game,\u201d Davis told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. \u201cShe\u2019s a champion, both on the court and off it, and it\u2019s evident in everything that she does.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018This culture that we built\u2019<\/p>\n
It\u2019s impossible to drive near Michelob Ultra Arena without seeing Wilson\u2019s image. She palms two basketballs and stares you down as her wingspan reaches each end of Allegiant Stadium. A look in the opposite direction reveals a Nike advertisement on Mandalay Bay\u2019s largest digital billboard that touts Wilson\u2019s \u201cMVP residency\u201d and displays a close-up of her shooting form.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s plenty more Wilson inside the 12,000-seat sports and entertainment venue.<\/p>\n
During warmups, eager fans wear Wilson\u2019s signature Nike A\u2019Ones while they watch her hit the court to the soundtrack of Beyonc\u00e9 and various female rappers. The music is tailored to Wilson\u2019s taste, according to DJ Joe Green, who has handled the Aces\u2019 in-arena turntables for the last six years.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen when we had 3,000 fans before we had 10,000 fans,\u201d Green said. \u201cI think (Wilson\u2019s) personality and character have a lot to do with that. Who she is as a person in addition to her level of skill, I think is a lot of what makes people love her.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s face is the first to appear in the Aces\u2019 hype video on the jumbotron before Aces players are announced.<\/p>\n
Her appearance is timed with BigXthaPlug rapping \u201csafe to say I\u2019m the biggest, the largest\u201d \u2014 apt lyrics to summarize her importance to the franchise.<\/p>\n
She never imagined she would raise the Aces to such staggering heights when she was drafted by former Aces president of basketball operations and coach Bill Laimbeer, however.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t see this coming. I honestly didn\u2019t,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI was part of a new franchise from top to bottom. I was just a kid that was just trying to do the right thing and play the right way, and Bill Laimbeer allowed me to lead a team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aces guard Jackie Young was drafted by the Aces with another No. 1 overall pick a year after Wilson in 2019, forming the start of a duo that they were instructed to cherish and keep together.<\/p>\n
Wilson won her first MVP and led the Aces to their first finals during the 2020 COVID \u201cbubble\u201d season, but got swept as the Seattle Storm won the championship.<\/p>\n
Now joined by point guard Chelsea Gray in the 2021 semifinals, Wilson and the Aces were a layup short from forcing overtime in a win-or-go-home Game 5 against the Mercury. That attempt was swatted by Brittney Griner, and the Aces were back to the drawing board again.<\/p>\n
But the Aces had something to fall back on: a lesson Wilson learned from South Carolina coach Dawn Staley and prioritized from her rookie year on.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you create a culture, that\u2019s where your legacy stands when you leave,\u201d Wilson recalled learning in college. \u201cLooking back (to my start with the Aces), I\u2019m so happy that we were able to sustain this culture that we built.\u201d<\/p>\n
Aces coach Becky Hammon took notice of that culture when she was hired to replace Laimbeer at the end of 2021. She knew she was \u201cgetting handed a really, really great player,\u201d but was surprised by what drove it all.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou show me who you are, you don\u2019t just talk about it,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cOnce I got to be around (Wilson), it was her personhood and her work ethic. After interacting with her and seeing her habits and what she\u2019s really about \u2014 what really makes her tick \u2014 I\u2019m like, \u2018This girl can be the greatest to ever play the game. And she will be.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n
\u2018A\u2019ja loves Vegas\u2019<\/p>\n
Wilson\u2019s presence permeates so widely through Las Vegas that it even helps the UNLV women\u2019s basketball team, which will wear the A\u2019Ones next season.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s recruiting or just our own team, (players) watch them, they go to the games,\u201d Lady Rebels coach Lindy La Rocque said. \u201cThere\u2019s no better example than A\u2019ja Wilson and Jackie Young of how to be great pros, how to be great people, how to be in the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting with the A\u2019ja Wilson Foundation for children struggling with dyslexia and bullying, Wilson makes various efforts to give back to Las Vegas.<\/p>\n
\u201cA\u2019ja probably loves Vegas \u2014 and what (the city\u2019s) people have poured into her \u2014 more than they would ever know,\u201d Wilson\u2019s mom, Eva Rakes Wilson, said. \u201cEveryone has embraced her. Being from South Carolina, A\u2019ja is out here in Vegas by herself. So for her to be able to come here and they really welcome her and wrap their arms around her \u2014 it means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maybe that\u2019s why Wilson feels like she and the Aces aren\u2019t close to accomplishing their potential.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like we have so much that we can do and so much to give,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cWe\u2019re obviously so honored to bring championships to Las Vegas, but we still have a lot more work that we\u2019re willing to put towards the city and towards our team and our franchise.<\/p>\n
Hammon is counting on it, even if she won\u2019t see much of Wilson this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this point, she is in Miami most of the time, doing her work,\u201d Hammon said. \u201cBut I\u2019ll tell you this, the work shows up every summer. So you know she\u2019s doing it. She comes back better every year.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s no secret that Wilson\u2019s training city of choice is thanks to her boyfriend, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, who recently relished the fact that Wilson joined Bill Russell as the only players in WNBA or NBA history to win three MVPs and three championships in a four-season span this year.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re blessed to see somebody have that much success,\u201d Adebayo told reporters. \u201cSomebody who they compare to Bill Russell.\u201d<\/p>\n
More winning, more money?<\/p>\n
Wilson drew yet another comparison to an NBA legend in the news conference following the Aces\u2019 title-clinching 97-86 win at PHX Arena.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re saying you\u2019re the MJ of the WNBA,\u201d a reporter told Wilson. \u201cHow do you feel about that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Her heroics in the Aces\u2019 tumultuous pursuit of their latest title made her the first player in WNBA and NBA history to win MVP, defensive player of the year, finals MVP and a scoring title in one year. Still, she found a humble answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still got a little bit more winning to do before you put me in that conversation with him,\u201d she said, despite all of her accolades and the champagne.<\/p>\n
The Aces don\u2019t have to wonder whether she\u2019ll do the rest of her winning with them. She\u2019s said on multiple occasions that her heart is with the organization that drafted her, an idea that she never strayed from even in the lowest moments of this season.<\/p>\n
Yet, somehow, Wilson isn\u2019t even the highest paid player on her team. She earned $200,000 this past season while guard Jewell Loyd brought her $249,000 supermax contract along with her when she was traded to the Aces from the Seattle Storm.<\/p>\n
Although Wilson is overdue for a raise, her selflessness has helped the Aces build its championship rosters. It\u2019s yet another way she\u2019s put the organization on her back.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m the first one that would take a sacrifice for this team. If it means we can hang up banners and we can work towards something big, I\u2019m taking that pay cut. I\u2019m going to make that sacrifice. We\u2019re going to move on,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cBecause I guarantee you, we\u2019re going to try to get something good out of it.\u201d<\/p>\n
But the entirety of the league has a larger issue: fraught Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations that led to overwhelming booing as WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert presented the Aces with their new hardware.<\/p>\n
The current CBA expires on Oct. 31., and fans are well aware that the league and its players don\u2019t seem aligned enough to avoid a potential lockout next season.<\/p>\n
Part of the issue is that players are aware of expensive sticker prices on expansion teams and a massive media rights deal that was announced last year and valued at about $2.2 billion.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, they reportedly can\u2019t get the league to agree to increase the supermax salary to $850,000.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m going to get what I deserve,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cAnd I think that is my biggest thing when it comes to this CBA negotiation: making sure that we know our worth. You can\u2019t tell me that I can look at these numbers and I see this, but then when you come back with a proposal, it doesn\u2019t meet the standards. So for us, it\u2019s just gonna be about honestly standing on business and not shaking and not settling for low-hanging fruit.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a perfect world, the players and league will reach an agreement that will allow Wilson to return next season to \u201cThe House\u201d she built without any interruption. She\u2019ll just be richer. And better.<\/p>\n
Contact Callie Fin at cfin@reviewjournal.com.<\/a> Follow @CallieJLaw<\/a> on X.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A\u2019ja Wilson hurled herself into a huddle of her excited teammates once the final buzzer sounded in their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":235173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-235251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-sports","9":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=235251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/235251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/235173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=235251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=235251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=235251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}