One other ring, test. One other title, test. A sold-out signature shoe, test.
Las Vegas Aces celebrity A’ja Wilson had a yr most athletes by no means even come near reaching.
She once more reached particular person success and even lifted her group to the highest of the WNBA ranks.
Her stardom even reached off-the-court buzz due to her branding and endorsements.
Let’s rewind and look again on 2025 — The Yr of A’ja Wilson.
3-TIME WNBA CHAMPION
On the finish, the Wilson and the Aces are solely remembered as champions.
However halfway via the season, they regarded lifeless within the water.
By way of Recreation 22 of the WNBA’s longest-ever 44-game common season, Wilson and the Aces held an 11-11 report after the star recorded a 37-point, 10-rebound efficiency to raise the group to a four-point win over the rebuilding Dallas Wings.
The Aces, who retooled earlier than the 2025 season by delivery out Kelsey Plum and buying Jewell Loyd, have been mediocre for many of the yr till a late surge propelled them to a top-3 end within the WNBA.
Led by the previous Gamecock, a 16-game successful streak turned a 14-14 report to a 30-16 end — a spark that almost stored the group with out a loss for 2 months. The important thing midseason addition of NaLyssa Smith (through commerce with the Indiana Fever) can’t be forgotten both.
Wilson was the main scorer in 12 of the 16 video games, averaging 26.1 factors and 12 rebounds. The No. 2 total seed within the postseason continued the push right into a WNBA Finals berth — Wilson’s fourth look in eight complete seasons. Finally, Wilson and the Aces swept the Phoenix Mercury, 4-0, within the Finals.
It was Wilson’s third Finals victory and he or she was awarded her second Finals MVP within the course of.
Wilson, who will probably be 30 throughout the subsequent WNBA season (assuming the league and participant’s affiliation agree on a brand new CBA), now has the identical quantity of titles as Diana Taurasi, Candace Parker and teammate Jackie Younger. These WNBA greats are the one girls with extra rings than Wilson: Rebekah Brunson (5), Chelsea Grey (4), Cynthia Cooper (4), Tina Thompson (4), Sheryl Swoopes (4), Maya Moore (4), Seimone Augustus (4) and Sue Chicken (4).
Cooper (4), Lisa Leslie (two), Taurasi (two), Sylvia Fowles (two) and Breanna Stewart (two) are the one different multi-time WNBA Finals MVP winners.
MVP & DPOY
Wilson stands alone as the one WNBA participant to win Most Precious Participant and Defensive Participant of the Yr in the identical season.
WNBA voters deservingly awarded Wilson each awards after she averaged 23.4 factors, 10.2 rebounds, 3.1 assists, 2.3 blocks and 1.6 steals whereas lacking simply 4 regular-season video games.
Wilson obtained 51 first-place votes to beat out Minnesota’s Napheesa Collier (18) and Phoenix’s Alyssa Thomas (three).
The race for Defensive Participant of the Yr was a lot tighter.
Wilson and Lynx ahead Alanna Smith each obtained 29 first-place votes, awarding them Co-Defensive Participant of the Yr honors.
Smith anchored the Lynx protection for 42 video games whereas averaging 9.6 factors, 5.1 rebounds, 1.9 blocks and 1.3 steals.
It was the primary time ever the league handed out a Co-DPOY award in it’s 29-year historical past.
A’ONE
The Yr of A’ja Wilson was on full show inside WNBA arenas.
Then, the dominance continued inside sneaker shops nationwide and on-line retailers.
Wilson’s first signature shoe — Nike A’One — bought out throughout the first jiffy of launch on the model’s web site final Could. The “Pink A’ura” colorway on Nike’s web site turned obtainable at 10 a.m. ET on Could 6 and consumers have been shortly greeted with a bought out banner about 5 minutes afterwards.
Whereas followers waited for extra colorways to change into obtainable, pairs of the “Pink A’ura” surged above retail worth on resell marketplaces.
Since then, the “Pink A’ura” colorway restocked and have become available for buy. And no less than a dozen completely different colorways can be found for buy in grownup and grade college sizes on Nike’s web site on the time of publication.
The signature sneaker, which retailed for $110 for adults and $90 for grade-school sizing, was first introduced in Could 2024. Wilson’s signature line additionally included shirts, hoodies and leg sleeves that match the sort the celebrity wears on-court.
On the time, the four-time MVP joined the likes of Candace Parker (Adidas), Sabrina Ionescu (Nike), Breanna Stewart (Puma), Elena Delle Donne (Nike), Diana Taurasi (Nike), Cynthia Cooper (Nike), Sheryl Swoopes (Nike) and Daybreak Staley (Nike) to have a signature shoe.
Since then, Reebok launched the Angel Reese 1, which was well-received by followers.
Nike formally launched Caitlin Clark as a signature athlete on Aug. 25 and launch her brand T-shirt days after. The model later launched her attire assortment in October. There’s no official launch or announcement set for a Clark signature shoe.
TIME’S ATHLETE OF THE YEAR
To finish 2025, how do you additional proceed to achieve GOAT standing?
By being awarded Time’s 2025 Athlete of the Yr.
Not a Ladies’s Athlete of the Yr award — Time’s Athlete of the Yr.
Wilson earned the honour, presumably beating out a would-be-deserving legend like Shohei Ohtani and tennis phenoms Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. She’s simply the second Black girl ever to win the award — becoming a member of seven-time Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles as icons for the duvet of the historic journal.
It’s a becoming honor for the one WNBA/NBA participant to ever win an MVP award, DPOY award, a WNBA title, Finals MVP award and a scoring title.
