A’ja Wilson used to hate basketball. Now, she’s Team USA’s best player.

2024 USA Basketball Showcase - USA v Germany
Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

A’ja Wilson is in the midst of a historic season and poised to be the basketball player in the Olympics.

Over the following week, SB Nation will be introducing each of the 12 members of the US Olympic Women’s Basketball team.

Here’s what you need to know about A’ja Wilson, the most dominant basketball player in the women’s field right now.

Fast Facts

Team: Las Vegas Aces (16-8)

Regular Season Stats: 27.2 points (52.7% FG), 11.9 rebounds, 3.8 blocks, 1.8 steals

Position: Center

Draft Class: 2018, Pick #1

All-Star Selections: 6 (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024)

Previous Olympic Appearances: 2020 Olympic gold medalist (5x5)

College: South Carolina – won 2017 national championship

It’s hard to make a case that anyone other than A’ja Wilson is the best player in the world

A’ja Wilson is a two-time league MVP, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, and last year’s Finals MVP. Yet — somehow — she’s playing her best basketball right now. Wilson is averaging a 27.2 points per game on 52.7% shooting, the highest scoring average of any player in the WNBA. She’s the league’s second-best rebounder, with 11.9 boards a game, and she’s the leading shotblocker, averaging 2.8 blocks per night.

As it currently stands, Wilson seems to be the leading candidate for two distinct regular season honors – MVP and DPOY. Her college coach, Dawn Staley, recently stated she believed Wilson should win both awards, as well as the Most Improved Player honor.

That’s not likely to happen, but Staley’s sentiment reflects the fact that Wilson has somehow managed to elevate her game even further this season.

A’ja Wilson recently announced her new shoe deal with Nike

It probably came too late — but in May, she announced a highly-anticipated signature shoe deal with Nike, set to officially launch in 2025. The shoe, called the “A’One”, was announced in Columbia, South Carolina – Wilson’s alma mater and hometown.

She’s the first Black woman to get her own signature shoe with Nike since Sheryl Swoopes in 2002, and she joins Sabrina Ionescu, Breanna Stewart, and Caitlin Clark as the only active WNBA players with signature deals.

Over the past few years, public pressure had mounted regarding the fact other players, including Sabrina Ionescu and Caitlin Clark, received shoe deals before her.

“We’ve been working on this for a couple of years now, and I just wanted it to be perfect,” Wilson told the Las Vegas Review-Journal’s Callie Lawson-Freeman. “I didn’t want this to be something that was just like a handout.”

She wasn’t always good at basketball

In fact, Wilson famously hated basketball — and sweating — as a kid. She reluctantly picked up a basketball in 8th grade, and just barely made the team, she said in an interview with Marie Claire. She described herself as “awful” at the sport; a “late, late, late, late, late bloomer.” She recalled accidentally dribbling in the wrong direction one game.

But, after being on a team that won the championship in 8th grade, she fell in love with the sport overnight. By high school, she was already elite, and led her team to a state championship her senior season. That’s when she got hooked for the long run.

A’ja Wilson is a Gamecock legend

South Carolina has produced some of the top players in women’s basketball, and Wilson headlines the pack. She led South Carolina to an NCAA title in 2017, and was subsequently the first Gamecock player to ever be named Naismith College Player of the Year. She was also a three-time SEC Player of the Year, averaging 17.3 points (on 54.2% shooting) and 8.7 rebounds in four seasons.

In January, South Carolina Athletics installed a statue of Wilson in front of Colonial Life Arena.

“A’ja was a powerful force in our program, our campus and our community through everything that she accomplished on the court and the person she was off it,” Dawn Staley said. “This statue in front of this arena is an equally powerful force. Every young person, and especially young black girls, can see what is possible through hard work, passion and dedication.”



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