MVP! Gamecocks great A’ja Wilson of Las Vegas Aces honored as WNBA’s best player
Just two years after A’ja Wilson was recognized as the best women’s basketball player in the nation on the collegiate level, she’s made her way to the top of the pro ranks — the Gamecocks great was named the 2020 WNBA MVP on Thursday.
Wilson was the overwhelming choice of the WNBA’s voting panel, garnering 43 of 47 first-place votes just a few days after earning AP Player of the Year honors and ESPN’s selection for MVP as well.
The award marks yet another major milestone in a career that has seen Wilson rise from the No. 1 high school prospect in the country at Heathwood Hall in Columbia, to NCAA champion in 2017 and national player of the year in 2018 with the Gamecocks, to No. 1 overall draft pick and perennial All-Star status in the WNBA. At age 24, she’s also one of the youngest MVPs in league history.
Playing a condensed season of 22 games in a bubble at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, Wilson starred for the Las Vegas Aces, averaging 20.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and 1.2 steals per game. She was the only player in the league to average 20/8/2/2/1. She also tied for the league lead in blocks and ranked second in the league in scoring, sixth in rebounding, ninth in net rating and sixth in usage.
“I wouldn’t say it’s easy playing in the bubble. It may be easier because we don’t have to travel, but playing every other day, and we didn’t necessarily get to have a beach day, but we found ways to bond in different ways,” Wilson said in a virtual press conference, according to Gamecock Central. “It has been tough. I have been emotionally, mentally drained, physically drained. Just to win this right now in this climate makes it that much more special. Nothing is easy in this league, but it’s been tough in this bubble for sure.”
WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert surprised Wilson with the trophy during a meeting Thursday.
“I was thinking that I had a referees meeting, and I thought we were just gonna have a talk with the refs, because we’re going into the semifinals, of course,” Wilson said on ESPN’s The Jump. “And then that’s when we see, you know, Kathy walk up and she’s giving a speech, and then I’m like, all of a sudden, I just started crying. ... I just became overwhelmed with so much emotion.”
Though the Aces were missing starters Liz Cambage and Kelsey Plum for the entire season, Wilson led Las Vegas to an 18-4 record and the top seed in the playoffs. They’re set to open in the semifinals of the playoffs on Sunday and will go for a WNBA title after reaching the semis last year.
Wilson was a three-time SEC Player of the Year at South Carolina, the only player to accomplish that feat, and led the Gamecocks to four consecutive SEC tournament championships, another first. She was named All-American four times, three times to the first team, and left South Carolina as the program leader in career points. There are already plans to erect a statue of her outside Colonial Life Arena.
“A’ja has loved on the game of basketball for as long as I’ve known her, and the game is loving her back in the form of this recognition,” South Carolina coach Dawn Staley said in a statement. “We are proud of her great work on the hardwood and being a change agent for social justice.”
Wilson was named WNBA Rookie of the Year in 2018 and an All-Star in 2018 and 2019. The league didn’t have an All-Star Game in 2020.
“I’ve had a lot of great players and a lot of All-Stars, but no one with the individual performance that carried a team like A’ja has this year,” Aces coach Bill Laimbeer said during a virtual press conference, per Gamecock Central. “It’s great for her, it’s great for our players, it’s great for our franchise. She’s grown up. Every year you see more of her ability and more of who she is as a person and a basketball player. There’s still more there, and she knows it and we all know it as teammates and coaches.”
This story was originally published September 17, 2020 at 3:05 PM.
