When you think about A'ja Wilson—the two-time WNBA champion and three-time MVP at age 28—the last thought to cross through your mind is her defeats. The Las Vegas Aces star is used to winning, but even the most accomplished stars experience their fair share of losses, and Wilson wants that known.
Wilson is featured in Gatorade's new campaign titled "Lose More, Win More" alongside other stars like Jayson Tatum, Luka Doncic, Caitlin Clark and Shedeur Sanders. The campaign showcases stars who embody the perseverance it takes to be the best—a mold that Wilson clearly fits.
"The message is important to me because it's something I've lived throughout my whole career," Wilson told Sports Illustrated in an interview. "Yes, we win a lot. And yes, the résumés are great, but no one truly sees how much we really lose. And that could be just losing sweat or losing games. I think it's pretty cool that [all athletes] can relate to this in some kind of way."
Wilson has been named a WNBA All-Star in each season of her seven-year career with the exception of 2020, when there wasn't an All-Star Game. Reaching a new level of excellence year after year takes a reset. Wilson likes to see things visually—she writes her goals out and enjoys the art of physically checking each one off her list.
For the upcoming WNBA season which tips off in May, one goal is simple—be better than she was last year. A big part of that goal is to bring the Aces back to the finals. After two straight WNBA titles, Las Vegas was eliminated by the eventual champion New York Liberty in the semifinals last season.
If a run back to the finals results in Wilson's fourth MVP, then great. But as long as the Aces are winning, she's here for it, because each season can look different. She was the WNBA MVP in 2022, the year the Aces won their first championship. In 2023, the Aces went back-to-back as Wilson controversially finished third in MVP voting in a tight race. Last year brought her third-career MVP award, although the Aces fell short of their ultimate goal.
Las Vegas' roster will have a different feel in the upcoming season, as the Aces traded star guard Kelsey Plum to the Los Angeles Sparks and received another star guard, Jewell Loyd, from the Seattle Storm in return. With the exception of Plum, the Aces' core remains largely in tact—just slot in Loyd into a new star-studded four with Wilson, Chelsea Gray and Jackie Young.
That said, there has been plenty of change for the Aces this offseason. Alysha Clark, the WNBA's Sixth Player of the Year in 2023, left Las Vegas to return to the Seattle Storm in free agency. Las Vegas also lost Tiffany Hayes (free agency) and Kate Martin (expansion draft) to the Golden State Valkyries. Sydney Colson, a key bench and culture piece, signed with the Indiana Fever.
The Aces added Dana Evans, Tiffany Mitchell and Cheyenne Parker-Tyus to round out their rotation. No matter how different the roster may be, though, everything runs through Wilson. Last season, she was the league's leading scorer, shot blocker and defensive rebounder, while getting to the free-throw line more than any other player.
Wilson is used to putting up big numbers—she does it year in and year out—but that production brings a lot of pressure for any one person. She's had a busy offseason, which included seeing her No. 22 jersey number retired at South Carolina, where she won a national title and was named the NCAA tournament's Most Outstanding Player in 2017. She already has a statue outside of the Gamecocks' arena. The statue's unveiling came during the COVID-19 pandemic, so the recent jersey retirement ceremony gave Wilson a celebration that was literally years in the making.
"The [jersey retirement] was something that was very heartwarming for me because I got to share it with the city and state that watched young me grow up into the person I am today," Wilson told SI. "I had friends and family that I hadn't seen in years come into town, and it was just a lot of joy and happiness on that day."
Over the offseason, she also took some time to surprise the North Carolina Tar Heels women's basketball team, a former rival, in their locker room after a win. The Tar Heels were shocked when the WNBA MVP walked into their locker room to speak with them, but Wilson knows the importance those moments can have on athletes who are where she once was.
"You get a sense of comfort when you can speak to someone that's literally been through what you've been through," Wilson said. "When it comes to the partnership with Gatorade and the upcoming campaign, it's all about the bounce back. And sometimes the bounce back is the most beautiful thing that can happen in your career. So if I can share that with people, because I feel like a lot of people may think that I have no downfall and I don't go through things because all they see are the highlights, it's never the lowlights.
"They don't see the bounce back—they don't see that part. So if I can relate to [young athletes] and let them know that they're on the right track and this is a journey we all go through, I think it helps put them at ease and build their confidence."
Outside of the work that goes into the bounce back, another big part of Wilson’s success is keeping herself grounded. With a life centered around basketball, when it's time to shift her mind elsewhere for a brain break, it's only right that Wilson still likes to compete.
When asked about her go-to care-free activity, Wilson immediately thought of her joy for escape rooms—typically a one-hour long group task that requires solving a series of puzzles to find a key and ultimately escape from a room.
"I love going into those moments, not knowing anything and having an hour trying to figure everything out and get out," Wilson said to SI. "It helps me in a lot of different ways. It takes me away from the games—it puts myself in the moment."
She said there's a themed escape room in Las Vegas based off the movie The Hangover which she had a blast doing alongside her teammates. She said it taught the group tidbits about their city they didn't know before, even after seven seasons in Vegas.
Even the biggest stars set an intention to get their mind right to accomplish the task at hand, no matter how big or small. After a set back, an incredible amount of work goes into the bounce back, both physically and mentally. Wilson isn't new to this—the three-time WNBA MVP and two-time champ has experienced her share of defeats.
But the beauty is in the bounce back. And that bounce back is only budding for Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as WNBA MVP A'ja Wilson Opens Up About Her Goals, a Bounce Back for the Aces and More.
