“You watch her and it’s just unguardable … she’s just that dominant.” These were the words of Caitlin Clark describing A’ja Wilson last year. This year, she’s doing the same. There are MVP cases, and then there’s what Wilson has done in 2025. Having already secured her third MVP title in 2024, unanimously, no less, the Las Vegas Aces star didn’t rest on her laurels. Her averages this regular season: 23.4 points, 10.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 1.6 steals, and 2.3 blocks per game.

But her dominance isn’t just in counting stats. She’s consistently been the factor that swings the game. When she’s on the court, her impact shows up in wins, in momentum shifts, in defensive stops, and in clutch buckets. Given her all-around excellence on both ends, how could she not be the leading candidate for the 2025 MVP? Unfortunately, it won’t be as unanimous as last year.

ESPN analyst Kendra Andrews has not picked the Las Vegas Aces player as her first choice for the MVP contender. But she had her reasons for that. “A’ja put together an amazing season. But her numbers were lower than last season, and one part about being great and a multiple-time MVP, you have to keep outdoing yourself, whether that’s fair or not,” she said. This statement, however, has not sat quite well with the WNBA community.

Talking about A’ja Wilson’s stats from last year, she put on 26.9 points, 11.9 rebounds, 2.3 assists, 1.8 steals, and 2.6 blocks. Comparing it to this year’s average, her scoring (down 13 percent), rebounding (down 14.2 percent), steals (down 11.1 percent), and blocks (down 11.5 percent) have all taken a hit of approximately 10 percent or more. However, she’s become a better team player this year significantly. Her assists are up by 35.7 percent this year.

But with those numbers, Andrews argued Wilson shouldn’t secure another MVP. Yet history paints a different picture. Michael Jordan claimed five MVP trophies, but his peak scoring year came during his very first win. The following four MVP seasons saw his production dip, yet his dominance remained undeniable. WNBA legend Lisa Leslie experienced a similar trend, averaging fewer points in her second MVP campaign than in her first.

By comparison, Wilson’s 23.4 points and 10.2 rebounds in 2025 would stand as a career benchmark for nearly most of the players in league history. This argument of the ESPN analyst was a sore sight for the fans of the Aces’ star player, who let Andrews know about it.

Fans blast ESPN reporter for her A’ja Wilson verdict

The backlash for claiming Wilson’s performance this year has not been up to the mark is bringing in waves of fans. They voiced their strong opinions on the ESPN reporter’s assessment. One fan wrote bluntly, “She doesn’t have to outdo herself; she just has to outdo everyone else.” Well, the truth is Wilson has, in fact, outdone everyone. She’s in the top five for points, rebounds, steals, and blocks.

Furthermore, she’s leading this season in total points (937), total rebounds (407), and defensive rating (96.0). Wilson also has the highest win share in offense (6.2), defense (3.3), and overall (9.5). The Las Vegas star is at the peak of her game, and not getting a unanimous MVP irks many fans. “Not only is this logic invented & against any MVP voting instructions, but she is punishing A’ja for not duplicating the greatest season in WNBA history. If you are tired of voting A’ja for MVP, then just say that,“ a fan wrote.

Another fan joined in to voice their frustration. They wrote, “What? So if she averages 30, she’s got to average 35 the next year? Wilson, you hear this? The standards for this young woman are crazy! MVP and DPOY, anything else is robbery.” Looking at the numbers, there isn’t a huge dip from her last year’s numbers. But there is a reason why Wilson’s numbers have dipped. That’s because the Aces roster has stepped up.

A’ja Wilson is not the only one dropping fire on the court. Jackie Young (16.5 points), Chelsea Gray (11.2 points), and Jewell Loyd (11.2 points) are all performing well offensively. Gray is also leading the team in assists, conducting the offense. This team effort was the reason, Aces went on a 16-game win streak in August. “How silly does that comment sound? When she has teammates around her who can carry the load, she doesn’t have to try to do too much,“ a fan wrote.

Although one major reason for the ESPN analyst not picking Wilson can be the stellar performance of Lynx’s Napheesa Collier. The Minnesota player has an absurd 50-40-90 shooting line this season while averaging 22.9 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 1.6 steals in the regular season. Her performance of 53.1 percent FG, 40.3 percent 3PT, 90.6 percent FT has given her the moniker of the best player in the best team of the league.

One Wilson fan called out the ESPN reporter for it. They are stating that if they want to pick up Collier, they are free to do so. However, not picking A’ja Wilson for falling short of last year’s performance is not the way. They wrote, “Craziness. If you value 50/40/90 more or being the best player on the best team more, that’s understandable, but measuring her against last year’s performance for MVP is not even logical. That’s what MIP is for.“

While Andrews has made her MVP verdict clear, she’s not alone in this assessment. WNBA reporter Madeline Kenney also felt the same way. In her verdict, Kenney said, “When compared to her most recent MVP campaign in 2024, Wilson fell short in some areas. Perhaps that’s the price of being in a tier of your own. You set your own standard and can only be compared to yourself.” Whether this is the consensus of all the MVP jury or not will be revealed on Sunday, September 21.