“By the time it’s all said and done, she will be the greatest to ever do it.” Becky Hammon said of A’ja Wilson. And it’s hard to argue with considering her list of accolades. Wilson won her third championship this year, while also becoming the 6th player to win multiple WNBA Finals MVP Awards. She has 2 finals MVP awards to complement her 4 regular-season MVP awards. At this rate, A’ja Wilson might become the ‘winningest’ player in WNBA history. That is, if Chelsea Gray doesn’t have anything to say about it.

The Aces’ star point guard was recently interviewed by ‘The Ballers Magazine’. The interviewer highlighted that Gray has accomplished just about everything. In light of that, he wanted to know what kind of goals Gray sets after so much success. Gray replied, “I want to be the winningest player in the league by the time I get up out of here. So years down the line, that’s what I hope to accomplish. More I always would love more gold medals. And it’s in LA, so that would be pretty cool. So, constantly trying to achieve like different heights, you know. Now I’ve tied a lot of people. Can I surpass them?”

While A’ja Wilson has 3 championship titles, Chelsea Gray has 4. On top of that, she has been named to the WNBA All-Star team a total of 6 times (Wilson has been named 7 times), and has 3 All-WNBA Team honors (Wilson has 6). Although Gray has never won the WNBA MVP title, something Wilson has done four times.

Chelsea Gray joined the Las Vegas Aces back in 2021. Back then, she was a “needed spark”. Her stats show that she has been a solid contributor in the regular season. She averaged 11.2 points, 3.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists, and 1.4 steals. She kept these numbers up in the postseason as well, where she had 11.2 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 7.3 assists.

The “Point Gawd”, as she is often referred to, built upon her skills with the Aces and, a few days ago, stood alone in the league as the sole active player with four title wins under her belt. Additionally, she is the first player to win both a WNBA and an Unrivaled championship in the same calendar year.

Despite all of this, Chelsea Gray does not forget the contribution that A’ja Wilson made to help get her to this stage.

Chelsea Gray Revealed That A’ja Wilson’s Criticism Motivated Her

A’ja Wilson was recently asked about what she told herself when looking in the mirror as a leader this year. She revealed that, for her, the biggest thing was “I had to get everybody on board. And it’s gonna look different for everybody. And I think that’s what I struggled with as a leader, is understanding that everyone, obviously, is coming from different paths in the way they obtain information, or need motivation. It’s different, but I need everybody in the same book, same chapter”.

We don’t know how many players gave out effective performances due to this ideology. However, what we do know is that it surely affected Chelsea Gray.

According to ESPN, Wilson once told Gray that “There’s no way I should ever have more assists than you”. The words reportedly stung Gray. However, she didn’t feel too bad about it. After all, as Gray revealed, “Our relationship is super honest and raw. I’ve cried in front of her. She’s cried in front of me.”

More than criticism, the words were a tool of motivation. ESPN claimed that Wilson’s criticism was “The biting barb that spurred Chelsea Gray and the Aces”. After all, Gray averaged 7.1 assists from July till the end of the regular season. That number went up to 7.8 in the playoffs, thereby marking the highest post-season average of her career!

In light of this, who knows? Perhaps Wilson might motivate her teammate enough to allow her to meet her long-term goal, which would require Gray to surpass Wilson! That would be something worthwhile to watch.