Expectations in the WNBA have always been sky-high. Especially for a rookie (assuming they’ve proven themselves in college), otherwise they’d never make it pro. Zia Cooke was drafted in the 2023 draft by the LA Sparks. She was picked pretty early: No. 10 itself. “When you’re a rookie, you don’t know who you should be,” the young gun had said back then. She was expecting to be rookie-hazed and thrown into the deep end, but it turned out quite the opposite. The LA side’s veterans let her be herself. But there’s one moment, though, that no rookie can really escape. It’s their ‘Welcome to the WNBA’ video roll.

Zia Cooke exclusively revealed to EssentiallySports that this moment came at the hands of A’ja Wilson. Coming into the league as a product of the famous South Carolina basketball program, her WNBA journey tipped off in style. Her debut: a ridiculous 83% shooting game with 14 points! This happened in front of a star-studded crowd of 10,396 at Crypto.com Arena. About two weeks later, though, Wilson was waiting for the repeat matchup, this time in Phoenix.

“The biggest welcome to the WNBA I had was with A’ja Wilson. She blocked my shot. It’s a viral clip. I came down, tried to do a layup over. She sent it in the stands,” Zia Cooke told Andrew Whitelaw of EssentiallySports.

Picture this: Cooke received a pass near mid-court during a fastbreak. Sensing an opportunity for an open and easy-ish bucket, she decided to drive in. What the rookie didn’t realize is that Wilson had been lurking behind her, waiting to pounce and swat the attempt. And I’m no mind reader to predict what happened next, but that’s exactly what happened.

The block should come as no surprise, as A’ja Wilson led the league in blocks that year. But rather than being dejected, Zia Cooke had a humorous reaction to the viral clip. Our fact-check team at EssentiallySports managed to find the youngster’s reaction to ‘the moment’ on social media immediately after the game. “I had to go down there at least once to see what it’s like down 😂 but y’all gotta know I’ll do it againnn 🤷🏽‍♀️,” Cooke tweeted.

Zia also shed light on how she felt about the Wilson block in retrospect. She revealed, “I think she fouled me. To this day, she doesn’t think she fouled me. But I don’t think I’ve ever got my shot blocked like that before. And for it to be A’ja Wilson, that definitely was a welcome to the WNBA moment. I haven’t done it since, but once I figure out how I could do it, I’m going to do it again! Hopefully, I make it this time.” While the two might keep disagreeing about whether it was a foul or not, we’ll just stick to the adage that an offensive player always thinks they were fouled, and a defensive player always thinks the opposite!

Zia Cooke’s Biggest Challenge in the WNBA

I’d like you to scroll back up and read the first line of this story again. Yes. That word. It weighs quite a bit, doesn’t it?

Andrew Whitelaw of EssentiallySports asked Zia Cooke about what’s been her biggest challenge after going pro. “Being in the WNBA for sure. I’ve been in the league for three years now. This is the most I haven’t played in my whole entire career. So that’s a huge adjustment for me. Going from my first year playing a little bit to my second year not playing at all. Then, being blessed with this opportunity.”

Zia Cooke was one of the few players who started every single game for South Carolina. But ever since she entered the WNBA, she’s struggled to find consistent minutes. As a rookie, she averaged 14.1 minutes per game. This dropped significantly to 8.9 in the following season. In her third season, the Sparks waived her.

Zia Cooke was then signed by the Seattle Storm, and for a while, it seemed like all was going to be smooth sailing. But, as the old saying goes, “a smooth sea never made a skilled sailor.”

On August 5, she was traded to the Washington Mystics as part of a package that brought Brittney Sykes to the Storm. But her talents were not forgotten. Because right after being waived by the Mystics, Cooke signed back with the Seattle side on a rest-of-season contract.

While acknowledging the WNBA’s challenges, the young gun is also recognizing the positives. “I’m seeing the blessings that are coming, and I know this is my journey and this is how it has to go. But being in my third year, I can just feel that I’m going upwards now. So, I will say my first two years, it was definitely hard for me because I didn’t feel like I was getting better. I didn’t feel like the things that I wanted were even in sight. But I will say being in Seattle, I can tell that they believe in me. They understand the game that I have. And I think God just places me in certain situations for a reason,” Zia Cooke concluded.

Even though the Seattle Storm’s 2025 season ended sooner than they would’ve liked, there are still plenty of positives to take away from it. Right now, they have an underrated young talent in Dominique Malonga on their roster. They already have a great supporting cast, and with players like Zia Cooke confident about finding their footing in the cut-throat women’s league, there’s no telling how far the Storm may go in the 2026 WNBA season!