{"id":343877,"date":"2025-12-12T06:48:12","date_gmt":"2025-12-12T06:48:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/343877\/"},"modified":"2025-12-12T06:48:12","modified_gmt":"2025-12-12T06:48:12","slug":"aja-wilson-after-times-athlete-of-the-year-honor-on-my-way-to-goat-status","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/343877\/","title":{"rendered":"A\u2019ja Wilson after Time\u2019s Athlete of the Year honor: \u2018On my way\u2019 to GOAT status"},"content":{"rendered":"

A\u2019ja Wilson was named Time magazine\u2019s 2025 Athlete of the Year<\/a> and The Associated Press\u2019 Women\u2019s Athlete of the Year this week after leading the Las Vegas Aces to their third WNBA title in four years and winning a record fourth MVP award.<\/p>\n

Wilson became the first player in WNBA or NBA history to win a championship, scoring title and be named Finals MVP, league MVP and Defensive Player of the Year in the same season. She had won all of those awards multiple times before. But in 2025, she put it all together.<\/p>\n

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Wilson spoke with Time on varying subjects \u2014 from her status in basketball history, to the state of WNBA collective bargaining negotiations, the growing popularity of women\u2019s sports and her relationship with Miami Heat star Bam Adebayo.<\/p>\n

Here are notable quotes from Wilson in her magazine interview for Athlete of the Year:<\/p>\n

On her growing GOAT Case:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m on my way there,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cI\u2019m making it real hard for people to chase after me. That\u2019s what it means to be the GOAT.\u201d<\/p>\n

And why did she don Thanos\u2019 famous infinity gauntlet during the team\u2019s championship parade<\/a> earlier this year?<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019ve collected everything, that\u2019s Thanos,\u201d she said, referring to the \u201cAvengers\u201d antagonist. \u201cAnd this year, I collected everything. I don\u2019t really talk much sh\u2013. I mean crap. I kind of let my game do it. This was my biggest moment of doing it, because no one\u2019s ever done what I\u2019ve done. And I think people really needed to understand that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On WNBA\u2019s rise in viewership and popularity:<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m going to win this MVP, I\u2019ll win a gold medal, y\u2019all can\u2019t shake my r\u00e9sum\u00e9,\u201d Wilson said on the 2024 rhetoric that Caitlin Clark was the sole reason for the WNBA\u2019s recent rise in viewership and popularity. \u201cIt was more so, let\u2019s not lose the recipe. Let\u2019s not lose the history. It was erased for a minute.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd I don\u2019t like that. Because we have tons of women that have been through the grimiest of grimy things to get the league where it is today.\u201d<\/p>\n

On CBA negotiations and Cathy Engelbert:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us are going to be at the table,\u201d Wilson said, \u201cand we\u2019re not moving until we get exactly what we want.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Wilson didn\u2019t hold back when discussing WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and the league, referencing Napheesa Collier\u2019s comments admonishing the commissioner<\/a> after the Minnesota Lynx were eliminated from the playoffs in October. Collier said the WNBA has \u201cthe best fans in the world, the best players in the world, but the worst leadership in the world,\u201d and shared details of behind-the-scenes discussions she had with the commissioner last year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked how she planned to fix the fact that players like Caitlin (Clark), Angel (Reese) and Paige (Bueckers), who are clearly driving massive revenue for the league, are making so little their first four years,\u201d Collier said at the time. \u201cHer response was, \u2018Caitlin should be grateful she makes $16 million off the court, because without the platform that the WNBA gives her, she wouldn\u2019t make anything.\u2019 In that same conversation, she told me, \u2018Players should be on their knees thanking their lucky stars for the media rights deal that I got them.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Wilson said, \u201cI only know Cathy by when she hands me trophies. If that\u2019s her true self, thank you for showing that. \u2026 Because now we see you for who you are, and now we\u2019re about to work even harder at this negotiation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been told to make sandwiches and get in the kitchen for the longest,\u201d Wilson said. \u201cIf we can get through bullying of those types, I don\u2019t think bullying is going to ever shake us.\u201d<\/p>\n

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On what she hopes her legacy will be:<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I can do three more,\u201d Wilson said of winning more championships.<\/p>\n

\u201cGive me rings. Let me take the picture and really show off who I am. I don\u2019t want to have to be somebody that\u2019s like, \u2018Yep, I\u2019m A\u2019ja Wilson, everybody.\u2019 I could also hold this aura and impact where everyone\u2019s like, \u2018Oh no, that\u2019s A\u2019ja Wilson.\u2019 And I don\u2019t have to say a word.\u201d<\/p>\n

On her growing influence with her Nike signature shoes:<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I have these seats at the table,\u201d says Wilson, \u201cI\u2019m clearing space for people to bring their chairs up too.\u201d<\/p>\n

On her relationship with Adebayo:<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is my life partner,\u201d Wilson said of Adebayo. \u201cHonestly, what on earth was my world before you? That\u2019s how much he\u2019s impacted my life, my family\u2019s life.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Las Vegas Aces, WNBA, Sports Business<\/p>\n

2025 The Athletic Media Company<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A\u2019ja Wilson was named Time magazine\u2019s 2025 Athlete of the Year and The Associated Press\u2019 Women\u2019s Athlete of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343878,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[650,1760,18116,4677,8173,1077,3250,99,434],"class_list":{"0":"post-343877","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-wnba","8":"tag-aja-wilson","9":"tag-caitlin-clark","10":"tag-cathy-engelbert","11":"tag-las-vegas-aces","12":"tag-miami-heat","13":"tag-minnesota-lynx","14":"tag-napheesa-collier","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-wnba"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343877","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=343877"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343877\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343878"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343877"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343877"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343877"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}