The Las Vegas Aces didn't have the easiest start to the 2025 season. In fact, the team that won back-to-back Championships in 2022 and 2023 looked like a far cry from their former selves for months into the season, to the point that nearly everyone who covers women's basketball (this outlet and author included), was ready to write them off and crown a new best team.
Of course, the unstoppable force known as A'ja Wilson wasn't going to go down without a fight. Wilson, who was named Time Magazine's Athlete of the Year Tuesday, was fully aware of the conversations taking place about and around her. She also was acutely aware of the team's potential, and she knew she didn't want to go down without a fight.
It took a disastrous loss — the Aces lost a home game 111-58 to the Lynx — for Wilson to put herself and her teammates on blast. Wilson told the outlet that she doesn't like to process losses at home because "my puppies don't deserve that" (she has three dogs to date), but after reviewing the game with boyfriend Bam Adebayo, she picked up her phone and sent out a group text to her teammates in the middle of the night.
"If today didn’t piss you off or embarrass you, please don’t bother coming to the arena tomorrow," she wrote. Wilson said that her phone nearly immediately began to light up with hearts and exclamation signs, Time wrote — a sign that her teammates were on board and wanted to put in the work to win.
Obviously, the message got through, and the Las Vegas Aces deftly beat out the Phoenix Mercury to take the 2025 Championship back home. Jewell Loyd told Time, "She could have cursed us out. She could have went down the line on why each person is not playing well. That wasn’t the text message. It was definitely stern. But it was definitely hopeful."
As Time also reported, Wilson concluded the message by writing: "I love each and every one of you guys, and I trust y’all till the wheels fall off."
From that point on, the Aces didn't lose a single game during the regular season. Wilson implemented an accountability chart for the team, where they each listed what they needed to work on — and they kept one another on the hook for it. In the end, Wilson's basketball prowess and leadership was on full display, and her legacy in the game cemented, no matter what comes next.