sports

WNBA Champion A'ja Wilson Talks About the W's Biggest All-Star Weekend Yet

Getty Images

Published Jul 17, 2023

If you are a sports fan, then you already know what I'm about to say here—A'ja Wilson is that chick, and is going to down as one of the greatest to play the game. The soon-to-be 27-year-old already has a heck of a resume since being drafted the Las Vegas Aces in 2018. A resume that includes being a WNBA champion (2022), a 2x WNBA MVP (2020 & 2022), a Defensive Player of the Year Award (2022), being a 5x WNBA All-Star, and plenty (and do we mean plenty) more.

Following up on a championship season is hard because all eyes are on you; you're Public Enemy No 1., and everybody's got the same question—can you do it all again? Nobody knows this better than Wilson herself, who in an interview conducted with Esquire's Brady Langman, admitted that this season is not the same as last year. In fact, the word "dynasty" is starting to be spoken when it comes to the Aces.

"When you win, you're like, OK, we got to do everything we did last year. That's going to be the hardest thing—understanding that it's a different journey." she told the publication. Wilson continued: "I've always remembered what Bill Laimbeer said: "If you win a championship—the feeling—it's like you have a secret key. Going from someone that hasn't had one to having one, I get it. You know what needs to be said in the locker rooms. That's going to be the hardest for us—understanding that it's not going to look the same, but you can accomplish it."

A'ja shares some of her excitement with us about the trajectory of the WNBA more broadly this season. Viewership for the WNBA is up a whopping 67% over last year, partially owed to the sensational play of Wilson and the Aces. “We have a lot of great energy in the W right now, and the atmosphere has been exciting," A'ja tells ONE37pm.

At the time of this writing, which is right after WNBA All-Star Weekend, the Las Vegas Aces hold the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference. The WNBA All-Star Game was this past weekend in Las Vegas, the place Wilson calls home professionally, and of course we had to check in with her ahead of Saturday night's big game.

"It's been an awesome experience working with the Starry team in Vegas," says Wilson who was at Starry All-Star Weekend event when we checked in with her. "Starry is our official drink and they are everywhere. We had the 3-point Contest, and I actually just got out of the Starry Ball. It's super dope to have this stuff brought to us because Starry has a lot of eyes and a big platform, and they are helping us to continue building our league. I feel honored to be a part of the Starry family."

The All-Star Game being in Vegas and Wilson hosting as the star face of the city shouldn't come as a surprise to anybody who has followed her trajectory in the W. After all, it hasn't even been a full year since Wilson told Bleacher Report that while winning another MVP (which she indeed did) would be an amazing, she was more focused on winning a championship. "It would mean the world, obviously, to win it, but at the same time I want a championship as well," she said at the time. "There's a lot of things that I still want to check off that list. But to win another MVP would be a blessing for sure, and it's definitely an honor just to be among the names of the greats of our game."

Back to All-Star Weekend, while there's a good percentage of us who have to been Vegas, there's also percentage of the population who haven't gotten the opportunity to visit yet. For some, this past weekend at All-Star was their very first visit, so of course we had to ask one of the faces of the city some tips on how to have a good time. "Drink a lot of water! There's a lot of people out here, and it's hot so make sure you got that water and Starry with you." As for where you should head on the Las Vegas Strip? Wilson says M&M's Las Vegas is a good place to start.

"Definitely go to M&M Bar because it's always fun! They have lots of different colors that's really cool, so it's always good to go grab you a souvenir from there." We asked Wilson to give us a first-hand perspective of everything happening during the weekend. "We just finished the 3-Point Competition and the Skills Challenge today—my teammates won so that's always good," says Wilson before detailing Saturday's events.

We're also huge fans of A'ja's style around these parts. Whenever there's a big event that rolls around, we like to ask the stars what they packed and what they plan on wearing. So we asked Wilson what she packed and planned on wearing. "I've got a nice little nude outfit today," she says. "I've actually been calm this time, my colors aren't really poppin'—I did colors last time, but I included everything from jeans, skirts, and everything in between."

So what exactly was the surprise of the weekend that we asked A'ja to reveal? "The biggest surprise is my Nike shoes coming to Dick's Sporting Goods that you can come out and get." And these shoes, folks, have been in very high demand. Another indicator of Wilson's star power.

It's only right that we end this showcasing the Nike Cosmic Unity 3 "A'ja Wilson," which are fire if we say so ourselves.