A’ja Wilson followed up a phenomenal regular season that earned her a fourth MVP award with another unparalleled playoff run. She averaged her best numbers yet, putting up 26.8 points, 10 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.1 steals, and 2.5 blocks over 12 playoff games. In a championship-sealing Game 4, she recorded 31 points, 9 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, and 3 blocks. She was also named Finals MVP, making her the first WNBA player to win MVP, DPOY, and Finals MVP in the same season. Hakeem Olajuwon is the only NBA player to achieve the same feat.
The Aces have now won three titles in four years. Wilson has been the driving force behind that success, winning four MVP awards and 3 DPOY awards in eight seasons. She isn’t even 30 years old yet, but already has an airtight case as the WNBA GOAT.
After the game, Wilson credited another WNBA legend with fuelling her 2025 season. “Sheryl [Swoopes] has been in my ear always,” Wilson told reporters in the postgame press conference. “I think the most powerful thing she honestly said to me is that I’m the best player in the world. And when you have somebody like that say that to you, you have no other choice but to be the best.”
Sheryl Swoopes is a legend in women’s basketball
Sheryl Swoopes was one of the original WNBA stars—the first player to be signed in the WNBA and the first women’s basketball player to have a signature shoe. Swoopes played most of her career with the Houston Comets as an integral part of the league’s first dynasty. Over 12 years, she accumulated a stacked resume and a lot of league firsts.
Swoopes was the first three-time MVP, winning the award in 2000, 2002, and 2005, the first three-time Defensive Player of the Year, the first player to record a triple-double, and the first player to win an NCAA title, a WNBA championship, and an Olympic gold medal.
In 2016, Swoopes was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. She is one of the most decorated players in the history of the league, but Wilson is definitely in the same stratosphere. While Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson tied Swoopes’s three MVP awards, Wilson is the only player to exceed that number. Wilson is also one of only three players to tie or exceed Swoopes’s three DPOY awards. Tamika Catchings holds the current record with five. Sylvia Fowles won the award four times. Wilson, meanwhile, has three and is on track to add some more to her resume.