Often times, the conversation of who a sport’s Greatest Of All Time will enter its way into a sport’s fan and media discourse.
On the NBA’s side, it often revolves around three relatively contemporary names – Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.
The status of the 2026 WNBA season is in limbo given how far apart league and players are on ratifying a new collective bargaining agreement. Let us take an optimistic view of things and assume there will be a 2026 season following the players getting what they deserve – a fair CBA from the league (owners).
That will be the 30th season in the history of the WNBA. Much of the discourse will almost certainly be surrounding the W’s 30 Greatest of All Time list.
One can call it the WNBA’s 30 for 30.
Of any new name that would appear on that list, A’ja Wilson is a shoo-in…or should we say a (signature) shoe-in.
It may be unfair to measure one’s career by the number of rings one wins. After all, there are plenty of great players who never won a championship. But the greats themselves want to win championships year in and year out.
For Wilson, it is not only about the championships – it is about all of the other career accolades she has already achieved while still in the prime of her career – including the four MVPs and the two Olympic gold medals she has already amassed.
This season – particularly the second half and playoffs of this season produced plenty of highlights that will go on Wilson’s career reel when all is said and done. She led her Aces on a generational run that earned Las Vegas its third championship in four years. Not to mention the scoring title, regular season MVP, Finals MVP, co-Defensive Player of the Year, All-WNBA First Team and a scoring record for the Finals.
In fact, Wilson set a scoring record for the entire postseason. And there will be a few detractors – and they know who they are – who will lament that the expanded playoffs were a help, but the extended playoffs are a microcosm of a growing WNBA.
Also – that Finals scoring record was set in only four games. Last year’s Finals between the Minnesota Lynx and New York Liberty went five games. The last few Finals to go the distance under the old five-game format was 2019 (Washington Mystics vs. Connecticut Sun), 2017 (Lynx vs. Los Angeles Sparks) and 2016 (also Lynx vs. Sparks).
The WNBA is about to become 30 years old – meaning it will be old enough to be a United States Senator. Thirty years is certainly more than enough time to dissect a sport’s history in 30 years.
Sheryl Swoopes is in that conversation. Lisa Leslie is in that conversation. Candace Parker is in that conversation. Diana Taurasi is in that conversation. Maya Moore is in that conversation.
Wilson is in that conversation – and given the number of prime years she still has left, Wilson could be leading that conversation when all is said and done. With three rings on her fingers, it is entirely plausible she wins at least two more (if not more than that) before around this same time next decade when she calls it a career.
About those highlights from this season alone that will be on Wilson’s career highlight reel – the Sept. 4 matchup with the Minnesota Lynx will be one of those highlights. That 31-point performance against the Napheesa Collier-led Lynx effectively won her that regular season MVP award.
It was ironic that the Aces’ biggest statement win of the season was against the Lynx. Because it was a 53-point drubbing at the hands of Minnesota that, in retrospect, resurrected Las Vegas’ season.
Fifty-three. That number means a lot to Wilson because that is the number of points she scored in a 2023 matchup against the Atlanta Dream to tie Liz Cambage’s single-game scoring record.
Two occasions where the career of No. 22 has been defined by the number 53. And even though this latest instance was a lowlight, she did what GOATs do – use that valley to lead her team to yet another peak for an area with plenty of mountain peaks as part of its geography.
And it will be 53 years – and many more than that – where Wilson’s journey will continue to be remembered. On many occasions, we may not necessarily always have the appreciation for greatness that we should.
Wilson knows she is great – and she also knows her greatness comes from those around her. She has reached “nothing left to prove” status within basketball circles. GOAT status and first-ballot Hall of Fame (Women’s and Naismith) are where the Wilson discourse should be at – if it was not already there.
Congratulations are in order for South Carolina’s very own. She already has a statue outside Columbia’s Colonial Life Arena. When all is said and done, she may have another statue outside Michelob Ultra Arena.
(p.s. – the Miami Heat would greatly appreciate it if some of those GOAT powers could be transferred to Bam for the next few months).
