A’ja Wilson just became the unanimous WNBA MVP for the 2024 season. Her performance this season has single-handedly put the Las Vegas Aces in a position to be the favorites for this year’s title.
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With her latest MVP win, Wilson has now tied Lisa Leslie, Sheryl Swoopes, and Lauren Jackson with three MVP awards, which is the WNBA record. On that note, Leslie explained what makes the Aces power forward special.
During an appearance on Just Women’s Sports’ podcast Fast Friends, she hailed Wilson for improving different aspects of her game every year.
Leslie recalled how a young Wilson was a one-dimensional offensive player who could only go left, which is her dominant side. She gradually started to diversify her offensive arsenal, which made her more unpredictable on the offensive end.
She has also showcased massive improvements from the free-throw line and even developed a reliable three-point shot. During her first three seasons, she shot below 80% from the FT line, but is now a legitimate 80%+ shooter from the stripe.
She made just one three-pointer in her first four years in the league, but has knocked down 59 from beyond the arc in the past three seasons.
Apart from that, she has also added a variety of complex shots in her arsenal, making her a complete offensive threat. Leslie said,
“A’ja Wilson has gotten significantly better every single season and I believe that is the key for her success. When she first got there, A’ja was kind of on the block, she was only going left, she’s a lefty, it was [not] tough to stop her, you knew she was going to go left. Then she went right, then she improved her game from the free-throw line.”
“Now she can knock down a three-point shot, she can drive to the basket, she can do a step back, she can do a step-through. She can do an up-and-under, I mean it’s the Euro, left, right,” the 52-year-old added.
Leslie also gave credit to her teammates Kelsey Plum, Chelsea Gray, and Alysha Clark, among others, for ensuring that their primary offensive option is able to shine in every facet of the game.
While Wilson has always been a great basketball player, the 2024 season was the most special for her.
A’ja Wilson’s historic season
During the 2024 season, Wilson became the first WNBA player to go past the 1,000 points mark. She finished with 1021 points, accumulating a league-record of 26.9 points per game.
Apart from that, she also broke the total rebounds record. She pulled down 451 rebounds at an average of 11.9 rebounds per game.
She had just five more rebounds compared to Chicago Sky forward Angel Reese(446), who would have held the record if she had not missed the last six games of the season.
Apart from that, Wilson also tallied an impressive 2.6 blocks and 1.8 steals per game. She is one of the frontrunners for the Defensive Player of the Year award as well along with Minnesota Lynx superstar Napheesa Collier.
She also led the league in Win Shares(10.9) and had the league best Player Efficiency Rating of 34.9. These stats indicate why A’ja was chosen the unanimous MVP.
