Just six years into her professional career, A’ja Wilson has already become one of the most decorated stars the WNBA has ever seen. With a ROY award, two MVPs, two DPOYs, two championships, and a Finals MVP, Wilson has established herself as the dominant force in the WNBA today.
Coming off of back-to-back championships, the Las Vegas Aces face the challenge of trying to become the first WNBA squad to three-peat since the Houston Comets won the first four WNBA titles from 1997-2000. While Las Vegas still boasts a loaded roster, headlined by Wilson, and are the favorites for good reason, there are plenty of teams looking to dethrone them and three-peating has, historically, been a difficult challenge in any sport. To do it, you have to have a talented roster willing to put team success above individual accolades, and the Aces so far have been able to do keep a mantra of “we before me.”
Wilson spoke with DIME this week ahead of a busy February for her, as she gets ready for her book release and will be part of NBA All-Star Weekend, joining Jayson Tatum for a Ridgeline Unlocks fan contest prior to the Ruffles Celebrity Game in Indianapolis. We talked about how she stays hungry for more as her on-court ramp-up period begins for the upcoming season, the conversations the Aces have to keep their main focus on winning titles, loving when her teammates get the shine they deserve for the hard work and sacrifices they make to allow Vegas to win championships, and more.
How’s the offseason going so far for you and just how are you doing now that we’re getting a few months out from from camp starting?
This is the time where I really start to dial into my craft and doing a lot of different things and ramping up, so it’s been fun getting back into the swing of things. My offseason has been great. I’ve been just kind of laying low, keeping to myself. Obviously my book is coming out next month, so we’re getting all ready for that. And I’m super excited about that. That’s probably my main thing that I’m excited about right now. But it’s been tons of fun and I can’t believe that training camp’s right around the corner.
What has it been like for you writing a book and getting to tell your story and do everything that that goes into that, because it is quite the process?
It’s been a lot of fun. It was a lot of meetings obviously throughout my season, just making sure that everything was going to be good, but I think now that I’m done with it, I’m very pleased about how much work we put in. And I definitely found a new way of just viewing things since doing that, particularly my audiobook. So it’s been a lot of fun. I have a village that has been so supportive of me, and just been super excited just to get things going. So February is going to be a big month.
You mentioned getting started on ramping up and something I always find interesting is somebody that’s at your position at the top of your sport, what do you focus on at this point in your individual work? Is it more about refining what you’re already doing? Are there things you still look to add to your game? And kind of how do you approach that balance as you get ready for another season?
Yeah, I think the biggest thing is just never becoming satisfied. Like no matter how many rings or banners I may have put up, at the end of the day, I can still learn. I could still grow and just being a sponge to everything. And I surprise myself every day when I go to the gym that I’m still doing things and having fun while doing it. So yeah being in this position that I am…I’m just never satisfied. I want to be great. I want more. I’m greedy when it comes to that. So when it comes to just how can I bring more to my game? What’s the work that I could put in? It’s a no brainer. So yeah, I’m excited just to continue to grow.
There aren’t many people who have experienced what you have in terms of your journey, but one of the few would be your teammate, Candace Parker. What’s it been like being able to spend time with her on and off the court and just be able to bounce things off of somebody who is in the rare position of having been through a lot of the things that you have?
Yeah, it’s been incredible. If you would have told 13 year old A’ja that she would be teammates with Candace Parker, she would probably flip out and say there’s no way. So it was definitely just a lot of fun just getting to pick her brain. I feel like Candace has seen so much within our league with so much of the game that like she’s seen the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, the ugly. So just to have that in our locker room and just the veteran that she is, the legend, the GOAT, the Hall of Famer that she is — just the way she approaches the game is something that I admire a lot. And to see that every single day whether she was injured or healthy. She was very present in just making sure that I was good, and it was pretty cool just watching the game over again and seeing how excited and hyped she was on the bench for us. Because it took all of us, it really did. And so yeah, it’s been a lot of fun learning from her.
What are the conversations that have to happen on the team like yours where you have so much talent and there are sacrifices that everybody has to make? And how special is it to have a group that’s willing to do that and keep team success at front of mind?
I think it’s something that we’ve learned that it has to be we before me. And that’s something that we approached right at the front gate. Like when we have people that get traded or are just here on the team, like new to the team, that’s the first thing that we help them understand that this is we’ve sacrificed a lot to be where we are. People on the outside looking in see the end result and that’s obviously what they focus on. But they lose sight of how we got to that point. How many arguments and back and forths and disagreements we went through and sacrifices we went through to get to that point. So the biggest thing is understanding that you’re not there for yourself, you’re there for the whole team and the greater good of the team, and that’s been a lot of fun just pulling that out of people within our locker room but never losing ourselves.
When you see somebody like Jackie Young have such a big Finals and you see somebody that maybe doesn’t get the recognition all the time have breakout moments like that, how much does that mean to you? When you see somebody who could be the best player on another team who might be your third, fourth option get that kind of shine, how exciting is that for you to see that moment for them?
It’s super exciting because like like you said, I see the countless hours that Jackie put in. I see everybody that’s working hard in the gym. And so when the rest of the world sees it, it comes by no surprise to me because I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, I know. They can do that.’ But that’s the beautiful thing about it is showing people that there are different paths and journeys that you go through, but you can still make it to the top and you can still achieve your goals and be you. So anytime Jackie gets acknowledged or any of my teammates get acknowledged I’m like nothing but smiles, because I’m like I see the countless hours that they put in so it’s great to be recognized. It warms my heart for sure.
I got to ask, are you ready for that Indy cold in a month, here [for NBA All-Star]?
Man, you know I just bought a new pair of Ugg boots. Gotta make sure I’m at least gonna be cute and cold. But no, I’m super excited to kind of dial into NBA All-Star and obviously Ruffles allows me to do that. It crosses over and blends the leagues together and I love to be a part of something that is not my All-Star so I don’t have to worry about playing, I can just be me and Ruffles allows me to be me. So I’m super excited for this one.
Yeah, I know you’ll be you’ll be with Ruffles for the Celeb Game. What do you have going on there and how are y’all going to be able to get some fans interacted with the Celeb Game this year?
Yeah, so I don’t know if you’re familiar with the Celebrity Game, but they have the four-pointer line. But now it’s called the Ridgeline Unlocked. So now it brings a different feel to it. Because now you’re unlocking different things when people score. And I think it’s a win-win and it really gets fans that are in Indiana but also at home a chance to be interactive with the game that we love. But it’s going to be tons of fun, and Jason Tatum and I are doing something where we’re picking fans, they get to shoot their own four-pointer Ridgeline shot and we get to pick and if they win, they get a chance to come to Indiana and actually shoot on the court right before the Celebrity Game. So I’m super excited about that because I think that’s the crossover that we love is like when you actually can experience something. Like you do it, cool. Where does it go? And I think Ruffles does a great job of now being like no this is real. You’re here in the moment. Do that. So I’m excited to watch it.
