Over the next week, SB Nation will be profiling each of the 12 members of the U.S. Olympic Women’s Basketball Team.
Here’s what you need to know about A’ja Wilson, the most dominant player in women’s basketball right now.
Fast Facts
team: Las Vegas Aces (16-8)
Regular Season Stats: 27.2 points (52.7% FG), 11.9 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, 1.8 steals
position: Center
Draft Class: 2018, No. 1
All-Star Selection:6 (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)
Past Olympic Games: 2020 Olympic Gold Medalist (5×5)
College: South Carolina – 2017 National Championship Winners
It’s hard to argue that anyone other than A’ja Wilson is the best player in the world.
A’ja Wilson is a two-time league MVP, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year and last year’s Finals MVP, but somehow she’s playing some of her best basketball. right nowWilson is averaging 27.2 points per game on 52.7% shooting, the highest average of any player in the league. WNBAShe is the league’s second-leading rebounder, averaging 11.9 rebounds per game. and She is the leading shot blocker, averaging 2.8 blocks per game.
As it stands, Wilson appears to be the favorite to win both regular-season MVP and DPOY awards, and her college coach, Dawn Staley, recently said she should win both awards as well as the Most Valuable Player award.
That’s unlikely to happen, but Staley’s sentiment reflects the fact that Wilson has somehow managed to take his game to another level this season.
A’ja Wilson recently announced a new shoe deal with Nike.
Perhaps too late, in May, she announced her long-awaited signature shoe deal with Nike, which is set to officially launch in 2025. The shoe, called the “A’One,” was unveiled in Columbia, South Carolina, Wilson’s hometown and alma mater.
She is the first Black woman to sign a signature shoe with Nike since Sheryl Swoopes in 2002, and joins Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart and Kaitlyn Clark as current WNBA players with signature deals.
Over the past few years, there has been growing public pressure over the fact that other players, including Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark, had signed shoe deals before her.
“We’ve been working on this project for a few years and just wanted it to be perfect.” Wilson said. “I didn’t want this to just be a handout,” said Carrie Lawson Freeman of the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
She wasn’t always good at basketball.
In fact, Wilson famously hated basketball and sweating as a child — she reluctantly started playing in eighth grade and barely made the team, she says. Marie Claire interviewShe said she was a “terrible” person when it came to sports, a “late bloomer, late bloomer, late bloomer, late bloomer,” and recalled one game where she accidentally dribbled the ball the wrong way.
But after joining a winning team in eighth grade, she fell in love with the sport overnight. By the time she reached high school, she was already an elite athlete, leading her team to a state championship in her senior season. That’s when she was hooked.
A’ja Wilson is a Gamecock legend.
South Carolina has produced some of the best women’s basketball players, and Wilson is at the top of that list. She led South Carolina to the 2017 NCAA title and went on to become the state’s first player to be named Naismith College Player of the Year. She was also a three-time SEC Player of the Year and averaged 17.3 points (on 54.2% shooting) and 8.7 rebounds over four seasons.
In January, South Carolina Athletics installed a statue of Wilson in front of Colonial Life Arena.
“A’ja was a strong presence for our program, campus and community through all her accomplishments on the court and her persona off the court,” Dawn Staley said. Said“This statue in front of this arena has the same powerful power — it allows all young people, especially young Black women, to see what is possible with hard work, passion and dedication.”
