A’ja Wilson Makes History as WNBA’s First Four-Time MVP
A’ja Wilson has officially cemented her place in basketball history.
On Sunday, the Las Vegas Aces forward was named the WNBA‘s Most Valuable Player for the fourth time, becoming the league’s first-ever four-time honoree. The 29-year-old star earned 51 first-place votes and 657 points, edging out Minnesota Lynx forward Napheesa Collier, who finished second with 18 first-place votes and 534 points.
Phoenix Mercury’s Alyssa Thomas (391 points), Atlanta Dream’s Allisha Gray (180), and Indiana Fever’s Kelsey Mitchell (93) rounded out the top five. Wilson learned of the honor Friday in a surprise ceremony, when WNBA commissioner Cathy Engelbert and her boyfriend, Miami Heat center Bam Adebayo, presented the trophy after Aces practice. Fighting back tears, Wilson told her teammates the award belonged to the entire team.
“It hasn’t been easy for us. They counted us out,” said Wilson in a clip from the award presentation. “They wrote us all off, but we showed up every single day. … It has my name on it, but it’s all of us. There is no [award] without each and every last one of you guys.”
The milestone puts Wilson ahead of three-time MVP legends Sheryl Swoopes, Lisa Leslie, and Lauren Jackson. She previously won in 2020, 2022, and 2023, and last season became only the second unanimous MVP in league history, alongside Cynthia Cooper.
Wilson’s 2024 campaign was dominant as she led the league in scoring with 23.4 points, 2.3 blocks, 10.2 rebounds, and 3.1 assists a game. She also shared Co-Defensive Player of the Year honors with Minnesota’s Alanna Smith.
Her late-season surge helped lift Las Vegas from a .500 record in July to a 30-14 finish and the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. The Aces are now in the semifinals against the Indiana Fever after Wilson poured in 38 points in the clinching first-round win over Seattle. The Aces trail Indiana 0-1 in their semifinal series.
Aces coach Becky Hammon called Wilson a generational force, telling ESPN, “The fact that she’s not even 30 yet is crazy, because she still has a lot left in the tank. There’s still areas that she knows she can improve in, and she will every year she comes back and is adding something different to her game.”
For Wilson, the award underscores her growth as both a player and leader: “This [MVP] was just different as a whole because my name wasn’t in conversations even coming off of a unanimous season. It was kind of like, ‘All right, cool,’ and that’s mind blowing to me, and it seeped in a little bit into my mindset. … But let me focus on getting the job done. Let me focus on how I could be a better teammate and a leader for this team, because that’s what we really need.”