A’ja Wilson has led the league in points per game throughout the regular season, and her dominance has continued into the playoffs. Earlier in September, ex-ESPN analyst Linda Cohn stated that Wilson was “jealous” of Caitlin Clark, which WNBA Hall of Famer Sheryl Swoopes claimed was “nonsense.” Now, Swoopes once again came in to back Wilson as she points out who the difference-maker in the Indiana Fever-Las Vegas Aces playoff series really was.
Watch What’s Trending Now!
“If you’re a player like A’ja Wilson, you really don’t need any motivation. Your motivation is: I am that girl. Like, I am her. I am the four-time, soon-to-be five-time MVP. So I’m just going to go do what I do. But as a former player, even if you don’t address certain things or comment on things, you hear it. You see it. So when it’s time to show up, you’re like, all right,” said Swoopes on the ‘Levels To This Podcast.’
“Because all the noise Linda Cohn was talking about Fever. A’ja probably didn’t want to go [to the FIBA World Cup in Germany] because she didn’t basically want to be in Caitlin’s shadow and didn’t want everything to be all about Caitlin. A’ja heard all of that. A’ja heard all the stuff. And I’m not saying that this game was A’ja versus Caitlin. Right. It was Aces versus Fever. Yep. But one player showed up, and the other player didn’t.”
Swoopes co-host Terrika Foster-Brasby echoed a similar point.
“A’ja Wilson is absolutely that… girl. Just what can you do with her? In game one, literally, there was nothing that could be done with her. Indiana threw multiple defenders at her. She ate them all up. They left her outside and said, ‘We dare you to shoot. She shot,'” said Foster-Brasby.
It’s hard not to see the merit in Swoopes’ and Foster-Brasby’s claim. A’ja Wilson made her intentions clear right at the outset as she dropped 38 points in Game 1 of the series, while also logging four blocks and 16 rebounds on September 27. In contrast, over the three games that Caitlin Clark played, she averaged 20 points, shooting 39.6% from the field.
Wilson is no stranger to making difficult shots, and despite the Fever defense guarding her relentlessly, she found the basket time and again. After Game 1, even Indiana HC Stephanie White admitted that they lacked the “intensity” to keep up with the Aces’ physical play.
“I felt like we had urgency at moments, and you can’t have that,” Stephanie White said after the game. “Give Vegas credit. They’re defending champions for a reason. They understand the moment. They understand that playoffs require a different version, a different level of intensity and urgency, and they came with it. This is what they’re supposed to do. They’re supposed to win Game 1. Now, we have to be able to bounce back and go home and pick up a win.”
A’ja Wilson then had a somewhat quieter Game 2, if we can call scoring 22 points quiet. Though the Aces lost that game, it was clear that Wilson’s performance on both ends of the floor would be an asset in the series finale.
That was indeed the case, as the Aces won Game 3, ousting Indiana from the playoffs for a second season in a row. Wilson finished the game with 36 points and 10 rebounds. She did not just score; she did so quite efficiently as well, recording FG of 61.1% in the game.
Caitlin Clark did everything to turn the tide in Indiana’s favor, finishing with 18 points and four assists, but came up short in a game that left her bloodied at the end from an elbow from Jewel Lyod. Kelsey Mitchell added 23 points, but her shooting efficiency suffered as well, as she made only 7-of-23 shots from the field. Capping off the Fever’s big three, Aliyah Boston added 19 points, shooting 50% from the field. But nothing they did could hold A’ja Wilson and the Aces back.
The Aces will once again hope to ride their way to another championship on A’ja Wilson’s fine form as they take on the Golden State Valkyries next. If Wilson continues to dominate in the coming games, she is well on her way to her fourth championship and her fifth MVP nomination.