The Year of A’ja Wilson

A’ja WIlson stood on a double-decker bus traveling down the Las Vegas strip in mid October with the WNBA championship trophy in her right hand and a replica of Marvel’s Infinity Gauntlet on her left. 

Her outfit—complete with a custom t-shirt, a hat, sunglasses, and a belted pair of light wash denim—paid homage to Michael Jordan, who Wilson has been increasingly likened to. The golden glove on her left hand was a symbol of all that she accomplished in 2025.

No one had a better year than A’ja Wilson. Not even Jordan in his prime. 

Wilson dominated basketball over the last 12 months in a way no man or woman has before. She became the first WNBA or NBA player to win a championship, the Finals MVP award, the regular season MVP award, be named defensive player of the year in the same season, and lead the league in scoring, averaging 23.4 points per game.

“You gotta be a little pinch of crazy,” Wilson said to TIME Magazine explaining what it takes to be great. 

All of that is just the tip of the iceberg. 

“She’ll do something almost every game that’s just nasty,” Aces coach Becky Hammon said in August. “She’s going to be the greatest player to ever play this game when it’s all said and done. Don’t miss it. She’s here. She’s in her prime and she’s killing it, period.” 

Wilson, now a three-time WNBA champion, has earned almost too many accolades to count.

She’s the first player in WNBA history to win four league MVP awards. She’s won the Finals MVP award twice, Defensive Player of the Year three times, league All-Star seven times, and has been a WNBA All-First teamer five times. Wilson did all of that while earning $200,000, nearly $50,000 less than the league’s supermax salary. 

By comparison, Jordan was making a reported $3.85 million during the 1995-96 Bulls season, the NBA’s 49th, when he earned his fourth MVP award and led the franchise to its fourth of six NBA titles in an eight-year span. 

The 2026 season will only be the WNBA’s 30th, but Wilson stands to see a significant increase in her base salary, along with her peers, if the league and union are able to come to a collective bargaining agreement. Currently on the table is a revenue-sharing model that would increase player salary maximums to more than $1.3 million, the average salary would go to $530,000, and the minimum would be $225,000.

“I’m never going to back down from using my voice and making sure it’s heard not just for me, not just for the W, but for the generations coming up as well,” Wilson said during the Aces Finals run. “It does get tough. Everyone’s always going to have a say, but we’re not going to back down. We know exactly what we got to this point, what we’ve earned, and what we’re going to go after. But we have to continue to put the greatest product on the court so they can continue to watch this.” 

Off the court Wilson cleaned up, too. 

Her year started on the heels of signing a six-year extension with Nike. The financial terms of her new deal were not disclosed, but it was described as one of the most lucrative shoe deals for a women’s basketball player. She was a featured athlete in the company’s first Super Bowl ad in nearly three decades in February. The commercial, titled “So Win,” also featured Sha’Carri Richardson, Caitlin Clark, Jordan Chiles, and JuJu Watkins. 

Her signature shoe, the A’One, sold out within minutes of going on sale in May. It was Nike’s first signature shoe for a Black woman since Sheryl Swoopes’ Nike Air Swoopes last release in 2002. 

By the end of the year, Wilson was inducted into the South Carolina Athletics Hall of Fame, had her jersey retired by her alma mater, was named TIME Athlete of the Year and one of Forbes most powerful women in sports, and was announced as a member of the  2026 Met Gala host committee. 

Amid all of the high points in this year of A’ja Wilson came a  53-point blowout loss by the Aces in July. The team responded by going on a 16-game win streak to close out the regular season—a turnaround that wouldn’t have happened without Wilson. 

“If you weren’t embarrassed from yesterday, then don’t come into this gym,” Wilson’s text to the Aces group chat read. “You’re not needed or wanted here. We need the mindset to shift, because that was embarrassing.” 

Wilson will be an unrestricted free agent whenever free agency begins following the ratification of a new CBA. She’s continuously expressed her love of Las Vegas and commitment to the franchise, but will assuredly have her pick of teams if she wants. 

Her reign won’t end as this year comes to a close, either. In fact, as the four-time MVP—who is just 29 years old—enters her prime, she stands to make this the Era of A’ja Wilson if she can make good on her goal of winning three more WNBA titles. 

That depends on how crazy she’s willing to get.