When A’ja Wilson was drafted first overall by the Las Vegas Aces in the 2018 WNBA draft, it marked a turning point for the franchise. The team, which began its existence in 1997 as the Utah Starzz, a WNBA charter member, had never won a championship. Not in Utah, where it played for its first six years, and not in San Antonio, where it had played up until just before Wilson was drafted.
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As one would imagine, drafting someone who is now on track to become the greatest women’s player of all time also led to great team success. After Wilson won the Rookie of the Year award in 2018, the Aces have been one of the last four teams standing in every season since. They also won the title in 2022 and repeated in 2023 in one of the most dominant seasons ever.
After getting knocked out in the semis 3-1 by the eventual champion New York Liberty in last year’s playoffs, it was fair to wonder if Vegas’ time at the top was over. Those questions really got loud as the team scuffled through the first half of the season. They sat at just 11-11 at the All-Star break, and twice in the next two weeks they were blown out by the league-leading Minnesota Lynx, first by 31 points on the road, and then in a 111-58 demolition at home eight days later.
From that point forward, the Aces put together the greatest closing stretch in WNBA history by rolling off 16 straight regular season wins and then winning their third title in four years by just getting past the Storm and Fever before sweeping the Mercury in the Finals.
Wilson justifiably collected her fourth MVP award for that run to break a tie for the most ever with Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie and Lauren Jackson. She was also recently named Time’s Athlete of the Year, and in a sit-down with CBS Mornings anchor Gayle King, she explained what keyed the Aces’ sudden turnaround.
Wilson sent a text to her teammates following that second blowout to the Lynx which said, “If you’re not embarrassed or angry then don’t show up tomorrow.” As she told King, “I felt like it needed to be said.”
Not every player could get away with sending such a confrontational message to her team, but Wilson is one of the most respected players in the league, not only for her ability on the court but for the way she carries herself and leads by example. If anyone could do it, it was her.
“I wasn’t necessarily worried,” she said when asked by King about whether she’d thought of what the team’s response would be, “because I was like OK it could either go two ways. Either I’m gonna be happy because my teammates are on board, or I’m going to the gym with fire coming out of my ears and looking like a mad woman, cussing out everybody, because this needs to be done.”
The Aces have built a championship mindset over the last few years, and Wilson’s text was all they needed to shake them out of their malaise.
“My teammates had the perfect response,” she said. “They were like, ‘No, you’re right, let’s do this.’ They started sending exclamation points, the hearts, and that’s when I knew this is what a championship locker room looks like.”
Wilson learned from the best when she played under Dawn Staley at South Carolina, and that’s why she knew that the Aces would be a different team after she sent out that text.
“Coach Staley would always say that championship locker rooms have a certain feel, a certain sound, and you need that, and a certain look. And we didn’t have that at all,” she said.
“We didn’t look like it, we didn’t sound like it, and it dang sure didn’t feel like it, but after that message you could tell that people were like no, I have to hold myself accountable, and I was grateful that I was able to do that,” the 4 time MVP added.
Even more than any jump shot she hit or rebound she grabbed, Wilson’s text will go down as the most pivotal moment of the Aces’ season, and the catalyst that kept a dynasty alive.
