A’ja Wilson had just finished Team USA practice ahead of the 2024 WNBA All-Star Game and rushed to the Phoenix Convention Center. She wore black cargo pants — A’ja-ified by her stylist, who cut off one leg to mimic the one leg sleeve Wilson wears while playing — and a necklace with her A’One logo. She politely asked for a mini fan to set on her chair, but not because she’s a diva. “Sorry, I’m exhausted,” Wilson said.
How could she not be?
Wilson’s Las Vegas Aces are reigning back-to-back champions and, at 16-8, have a three-peat within grasp. During the offseason, Wilson became an instant New York Times best-selling author with Dear Black Girls and had Tom Brady gushing about her for the Time 2024 Most Influential People list. Once the 2024 WNBA season began in May, Wilson showed she had yet another gear of greatness.
Wilson leads the WNBA in points per game (27.2), rebounds per game (12), and blocks per game (2.9). The six-time All-Star, two-time WNBA MVP, and two-time Defensive Player Of The Year set the WNBA all-time record for most consecutive 25-point regular-season games (eight) and had six straight such games entering the All-Star break. Although, 2024 WNBA All-Star Weekend was not a break.
Between preparing for the 2024 Paris Olympics with Team USA, Wilson made time for the fans at Starry’s activation for WNBA Live in the Phoenix Convention Center. She was then courtside to support her peers at the 2024 Starry 3-Point Contest and Kia Skills Challenge.
“Starry just hits different when it comes to just wanting to uplift others and making sure that we’re seen,” the 2018 No. 1 overall pick said. “As an athlete, particularly as a woman in basketball, it’s kind of hard to be seen, in some cases. But Starry invests in me, and I’m always happy that I can be there.”
Through it all, Wilson oozed more charisma than even her 6’4 frame could hope to contain. She sat down with DIME to discuss her upcoming Nike A’One signature shoe, her Finding Nemo handshake with Aces rookie Kate Martin, and the possibility of leading the Aces to a three-peat during her most excellent season yet.
I love how you own your pettiness because we are all petty. It’s just a matter of who admits it and who doesn’t.
[Laughs] For sure.
This spring, when the timeline was blowing up with complaints that you didn’t have a Nike signature shoe, did you have to fight urges to be petty because you knew that they didn’t know what you had coming in the A’One?
One hundred percent. I feel like keeping my shoe in was probably the hardest secret I had to keep. Particularly because it was so many people that had something to say, and sometimes, people just swear that they know everything, and they don’t. And so, it was very hard for me to keep my inner pettiness in because I wanted to tell people off every single time. But what is delayed is not denied, and I was so glad that I was able to showcase it the way that I wanted to showcase it. Everyone can now understand that, yes, there’s a shoe coming in 2025.
You’re aware that people call you the best player in the world because you are. But I loved how emotional you were in expressing that you’d rather be known as the best person and teammate. What is your love language with your teammates?
Celebrating them. I feel like celebrating them either as words of affirmation or just making sure that they know that they’re not alone. I think that’s the biggest message that I continue to push to them is knowing that we all are fighting battles. It’s a little hard coming into work some days because you’ve just not got it. Life be lifin’. But at the end of the day, knowing that I always have their backs, knowing that I need the best out of them, no matter what, and I don’t care if that’s on the basketball court or just as a person and as a character. That’s something that I really like to voice, so they stick with me through the highs and lows — the cuss-outs and the soft talks. That’s what makes us who we are.
What is your favorite characteristic of the Aces this season?
Oh, man. Our fight through adversity, I feel like that normally comes in the Septembers and Octobers, but we had to fight our way through in May, and I think I never saw that out of our team before. That was the biggest characteristic that I saw. I was like, ‘Oh no, we got some fight in us early,’ and I never seen that before.
Would you rather have a pretty bucket or a physical bucket?
Give me a pretty bucket.
It might be unwise to use my time on this, but how did the Finding Nemo handshake with Kate Martin originate?
[Laughs] I don’t know. I always forget how young Kate is, so I really didn’t know if she knew Finding Nemo. It’s weird because some of these 2000s babies don’t have a clue about some things. And it’s funny. It came across my timeline one time, and I was just like, I love this handshake. Let’s do it. And Kate is someone on the team that is always down for a good time, and I love her for that. She respects it, and I respect her for that. That’s when we dove into it, and then it just started growing. We didn’t think people were going to catch onto it, so it was pretty cool.
What has been your favorite random spotting of your signature one leg sleeve?
It’s funny. My agent, actually — I don’t know if she was watching a college game or an AAU game, but she took a picture, and literally, nine out of the 10 players on the court had one leg sleeve. I was just like, wow, that is amazing. Coming from me, who wore that leg sleeve in training camp because my leg was literally not working. For legit reasons. Now, it is just being an aesthetic and something that people just kind of rock with because it’s cute. That moment I was like, Oh, wow, this is real.
You are penning a masterpiece this season. What is allowing you to play so freely?
I feel like it’s just one of those things where — it’s actually my phone’s screensaver. Kobe [Bryant] said, “Rest at the end, not in the middle.” And that is something that I really approached this year with. I kind of had a chip on my shoulder. When I got that fourth-place vote [for 2023 WNBA MVP], I was like, ‘Oh, I have work to do.’ I just keep telling myself, “Rest at the end, not in the middle.” I just keep playing, and I keep pushing through. Trying to push through these walls, so that I can push through ’em for my teammates so they know that they can push through ’em. That’s what’s making me play at this level, and I’m having so much fun doing it.
The trick of that is you’re a world-class competitor, so I’m presuming that there will never be the end. You will always be in the middle.
Exactly. Always. It’s kind of reverse psychology. I’m telling myself there’s an end, but I’m like, nah.
You’ve experienced the sweet sensation of becoming a champion more than most people, but would a three-peat be different?
A three-peat probably would be different because that’s rare. It’s not a lot of three-peat teams out here, so just to have our name in that space, it would definitely hit different.
Here’s another random question. What is a small thing that recently reminded you of your grandmother? I love the story you tell about your statue on the University of South Carolina campus, and it’s extra significant because your grandmother wasn’t allowed to walk on the same campus once upon a time.
Actually, when I was putting on my clothes today. I was putting on my clothes, and my grandma was always like, ‘Pack some underwear.’ She always packed up these little things that you’re going to need, and I’ve been rushing all day. I was like, ‘Where is my underwear?!’ And then I realized I packed some. It was one of those moments where I’m like, ‘Ah, my grandma’s always looking out for me.’
You’re packing for the Olympics, and in the spirit of the 2024 Paris Olympics, what is your “Hang It In The Louvre” moment? A snapshot from your basketball life that you would like to be displayed and preserved forever?
That’s a good one. I think actually Nike probably used it. It was a shot of me during my 53-point game [last August], and it was just me doing a layup. I was just like, Ooh, hang it! Hang it! That is beautiful.
