South Carolina women's basketball: A'ja Wilson cements her GOAT status with the Aces' third championship

The Las Vegas Aces beat the Phoenix Mercury 97-86 to win the WNBA Finals, and A’ja Wilson put a crown on one of the most dominant seasons ever.

The WNBA Finals expanded to a best-of-seven series for the first time, but it never got that far as the Aces won in a sweep. Wilson, who won her second Finals MVP, made sure of that.

She had 31 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and two steals on Friday, and shot 17-19 from the free throw line. Wilson averaged 28.5 points, 11.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 blocks, and 1.0 steals in the Finals, highlighted by her game-winning jumper with 0.3 seconds left in Game 3.

Wilson’s 114 points in the series are a WNBA Finals record, as are her 322 total points in this year’s playoffs. That’s just the tip of the iceberg for Wilson’s dominance.

Wilson joined Hakeem Olajuwon (1994) as the only WNBA or NBA players to win MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, and Finals MVP in the same season. When you add Wilson’s scoring title, she stands alone.

Wilson’s MVP award was her fourth, following wins in 2020, 2022, and unanimously in 2024. She has the most of any player in WNBA history, and Wilson and Cynthia Cooper are the only players with a unanimous MVP or consecutive MVPs. 

A year after Wilson had the greatest season ever by a women’s basketball player, setting WNBA records for scoring, scoring average, and rebounds while also winning a gold medal at the Olympics, she might have been even better this season.

She also joined Bill Russell (1961-63) as the only players in both leagues to win three MVPs and three championships in four years. 

And to think, Wilson could well be one bogus fourth-place vote in 2023 from having another MVP trophy. 

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All season long, Aces coach Becky Hammon has searched for ways to describe Wilson’s brilliance. A goat isn’t good enough. She has said Wilson doesn’t belong on Mount Rushmore because she’s on Mount Everest, called Wilson an elk while other All-Stars are white deer, and said Wilson is some sort of gazelle-lion hybrid.

The conversation around Wilson hasn’t evolved into some sort of new hybrid, but it has definitely changed over the season and especially last month. 

Las Vegas and Wilson were afterthoughts at the beginning of August. They were a .500 team clinging to playoff hopes and coming off the second-worst loss in league history. Then Wilson took over and led a 16-game winning streak that vaulted the Aces to the second seed and Wilson into the MVP conversation. 

In the final days of the season, the MVP race was considered a toss-up between Wilson and Napheesa Collier. Wilson won with 70% of the first-place votes, a landslide. 

Maybe someday, the conversation went, A’ja Wilson will be the best player ever. Even Dawn Staley hedged, saying, “Ever?”

“She’s the best in the world, for sure,” Staley said. “She’s the very best in the world.”

Even going into the Finals, most pundits picked Phoenix, and even those who picked Las Vegas expected a long series. Wilson had other ideas. 

On ESPN’s postgame show, Chiney Ogwumike said there is no someday. Wilson is already the best player ever. During their, ahem, relaxed, postgame media session, Wilson was asked to define greatness. 

“I think greatness is…” she said, hesitating.

“A’ja Wilson,” Hammon interjected. 

Nobody is arguing. 

Wilson and the WNBA head into a transitional offseason. All but two veterans, including Wilson and every Las Vegas player except Aaliyah Nye, are free agents. Wilson will be the most sought-after player, able to essentially pick her team and teammates.

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