{"id":90115,"date":"2025-08-17T18:36:18","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T18:36:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90115\/"},"modified":"2025-08-17T18:36:18","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T18:36:18","slug":"call-me-the-joker-when-aja-wilson-opened-up-on-accepting-south-carolina-like-villain-role-for-third-aces-championship-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/90115\/","title":{"rendered":"“Call Me The Joker”: When A’ja Wilson Opened Up On Accepting South Carolina like ‘Villain’ Role For Third Aces Championship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former South Carolina Gamecocks stalwart and now Las Vegas Aces star A\u2019ja Wilson<\/a> once opened up about her \u201cvillain\u201d role in both college basketball and now professionally. Back in October of last year, reporter Tyler Tynes published an article on ESPN which dives deep into Wilson from her career, off-court life, background and upbringing, mentalities and more.<\/p>\n

In one part of the feature<\/a>, Wilson was asked about the villain role she played back in her collegiate basketball days with coach Dawn Staley and the Gamecocks. For Wilson, she accepted that role back then and has since brought that same mindset into her professional career in the WNBA. This mindset, Wilson says, is what helped her and coach Becky Hammon\u2019s squad secure their third championship back in 2023.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a quote on our jumbotron. \u2018You either die a hero or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.\u2019 That is like us. They hail us, they hail us, they hail us, then they nail us and nail us, nail us. Sometimes you have no choice but to be like, \u2018F**k it, this is what y\u2019all do to me. Let\u2019s rock. Let me show y\u2019all exactly how we get down and never shake from that.\u2019 So, you just find beauty in it,\u201d Wilson was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we got to be the villains and that gets us a third championship, call me the Joker. I am here ready to take on that role. We\u2019re going to always be the villain,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Wilson is currently in her eighth year in the league in the 2025 WNBA season, all of which has been spent with coach Becky Hammon\u2019s Las Vegas<\/a> team. Currently, Wilson and the Aces have churned out a record of 20-14 thus far, and are sitting as the second seed in the Western Conference. Their next game will be against the Dallas Wings on Sunday, Aug. 17, on their home floor as they look to get win No. 21.<\/p>\n

Read More: \u201cRemember Coach Staley Used to Yell at Me\u201d: When South Carolina HC\u2019s Motivational Lesson Helped A\u2019ja Wilson Create Iconic A\u2019One Shoes<\/a><\/p>\n

A\u2019ja Wilson Led the South Carolina Gamecocks To Its First Ever National Title
\n\"SouthA\u2019ja Wilson and the South Carolina Gamecocks Source: Kevin Jairj, Imagn<\/p>\n

Under the tutelage of coach Dawn Staley<\/a>, A\u2019ja Wilson spearheaded the South Carolina Gamecocks to its first national title in program history back in the 2017 NCAA tournament. They won the national championship after defeating the Mississippi State Bulldogs by 12 points, 67-55, with Wilson leading the way to win the Most Outstanding Player honors after she put up a game-high 23 points, 10 rebounds, two steals and four blocks.<\/p>\n

Read More: \u00a0\u201cUnderstood How To Take The Punch\u201d: Dawn Staley\u2019s Former South Carolina Star A\u2019ja Wilson Sends Clear Message On Aces\u2019\u00a0Win\u00a0Streak<\/a><\/p>\n

College Sports Network has you covered with the latest news, analysis, insights, and trending stories in\u00a0college football<\/a>,\u00a0men\u2019s college basketball<\/a>,\u00a0women\u2019s college basketball<\/a>, and\u00a0college baseball<\/a>!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former South Carolina Gamecocks stalwart and now Las Vegas Aces star A\u2019ja Wilson once opened up about her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90116,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[68],"tags":[402,398,400,401,99],"class_list":{"0":"post-90115","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-ncaa","10":"tag-ncaa-basketball","11":"tag-ncaabasketball","12":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90115","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=90115"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90115\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}